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Tennessee football: Vols stock report following week one of 2019

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Ty Chandler #8 of Tennessee Volunteers runs into the end-zone to score a touchdown against Georgia State Panthers during the first quarter of the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Ty Chandler #8 of Tennessee Volunteers runs into the end-zone to score a touchdown against Georgia State Panthers during the first quarter of the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

Stock down

Trenches

No stock is worse than the trenches. And it’s hard to figure out which one will improve first. However, it’s easy to figure out which one is worse. Tennessee football was clearly not ready to offset the losses of Alexis Johnson, Shy Tuttle and Kyle Phillips and then the season-ending injury to Emmit Gooden on the defensive line, even with Aubrey Solomon being ready to go.

That was easily the worst unit on the field Saturday. Meanwhile, the offensive line was pretty bad too, as the interior line looked like it didn’t improve at all. To be fair, there were lots of guys starting at new positions on Saturday, but it was still hard to watch at times. Jarrett Guarantano was under constant pressure because of it. But there were some signs there. They didn’t exist on defense.

Secondary

While the line was horrible, the linebackers were as well. But at least they had an excuse with Daniel Bituli being out and having to overcompensate for the issues on the defensive line. The secondary is a completely different story. UT was a disaster at defensive back, even if they did only allow 139 yards passing.

The Vols needed their safeties to be able to help contain Dan Ellington, and they failed miserably. That’s a big reason the unit torched them on the ground with that option. It should have been much more effective overall, and instead it was an abject failure. This unit has no excuse either, even with the loss of Bryce Thompson.

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