All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football vs. UTEP: 5 Vols to watch for against Miners

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Darrin Kirkland Jr. #34 of the Tennessee Volunteers returns an interception for a touchdown during a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Darrin Kirkland Jr. #34 of the Tennessee Volunteers returns an interception for a touchdown during a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images
Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images /

The UTEP Miners are useless when it comes to covering big receivers who can make huge players. They’re even worse altogether at stopping the run. That’s a weakness that dates back to last year and doesn’t appear to have gotten any better.

Last week, this team allowed over 400 yards and four touchdowns in their 52-24 loss to the UNLV Rebels, who gained nearly seven and a half yards a play. That follows a 2017 season in which they gave up nearly 235 yards and three touchdowns a game on the ground along with five and a half yards a rushing play.

Face it, this rush defense is bad. And that’s where Tim Jordan comes in. The coaches will likely want to save Ty Chandler again for this week. Jeremy Banks and Madre London remain the power backs to close the deal.

As a result, Jordan is going to be the guy to carry Tennessee football this week. He’s shown a lot of ability the first two weeks, averaging over five yards a carry and gaining 183 yards overall. A big reason to use him, though, is so Jeremy Pruitt and Tyson Helton can get their offensive line to gel.

This is the perfect game just to tune things up for that unit, which already struggled after the loss of Brandon Kennedy at center. As a result, Jordan will likely get quite a few carries. He’s already shown he can overcome poor blocking with his agility, and he’ll have to do that again to help the Vols keep this game out of reach.

Home/Vols Football