Tennessee football vs. Georgia State: 10 keys for Vols and Panthers

8. Tennessee’s deep ball

The Georgia State Panthers had a horrible defense all the way around last year. One of the areas in which they were bad was giving up the deep ball. It happened a lot, and teams facing them expect to cash in on that again this year.

If Tennessee football is going to have a turnaround year, the deep ball will be a major factor. Jim Chaney returning to coach the offense is a big reason for that. Jarrett Guarantano’s big arm and efficiency is another factor.

But the Vols are also loaded with weapons at receiver. Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway and Josh Palmer are all deep threats. Brandon Johnson can provide even more off the bench, and Ramel Keyton is a freshman who was recruited for his ability to go deep.

Then there’s tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, who is the size of a blocking tight end but was a four-star junior college transfer in 2018 solely due to his receiving abilities. Simply put, the Vols have a ton of big weapons in the passing game, and Chaney’s time on Rocky Top in 2012 proves that he loves to exploit that.

Georgia State is a great test for Chaney to do it. They are more experienced on defense this year, so expectations are for the deep passes given up to be limited. But if UT has any semblance of the passing game we expect them to have, they should still be able to exploit it. Otherwise, it will hint at much larger concerns going forward.