Tennessee football: Five reasons Georgia State could upset Vols

2. Containing Dan Ellington could be difficult without Daniel Bituli.

As a Steve Spurrier protege, Shawn Elliott is more than willing to employ elements of the Fun-n-Gun offense. Heck, he spent four years as Spurrier’s offensive coordinator, so he has plenty of experience utilizing it already.

This year, Elliott has a quarterback in Dan Ellington who, with more experience and a much more experienced supporting cast, could be deadly. In 2018, Ellington completed 59.6 percent of his passes for 2,119 yards, or nearly 60 percent of his passes for over 190 yards a game. He had 12 touchdowns to five interceptions.

But then you look at his rushing numbers, and all of a sudden he becomes deadly. The guy led the team on the ground with 629 yards, and that includes what he lost due to sacks. He also had five touchdowns on that front.

Simply put, Tennessee football will have its hands full with Ellington already, who should be much improved. But here comes the kicker. Daniel Bituli, the Vols’ signal caller on defense, is going to be out on Saturday in order to clean up an injury. He should be back in a week or two, but what if it’s too late and the Vols are dealt a blow without him on Saturday?

Nobody else is proven at inside linebacker now with Darrin Kirkland Jr. having retired. That’s a position designed to contain players like Ellington, and the signal caller is responsible for doing that too. Losing them on both fronts with Bituli’s absence could be disastrous for the Vols.

The big advantage with Bituli is he fits Jeremy Pruitt’s wish list of linebackers who can play all four spots, so he could move around to go after Ellington. His presence is very welcome for Derrick Ansley as a first-year defensive coordinator. Not having him on the field Saturday will likely be problematic at times, especially with UT turning to a freshman to help replace him.