3. Defensive tackles getting more of a push
Believe it or not, Tennessee football hasn’t been as disastrous as it could have been on the defensive line. We knew the Vols would have issues up front. Regardless of who transferred to the program and who you recruited, you can’t just replace all three starters and then lose your only returning producer from the best unit on your team last year.
Kyle Phillips, Alexis Johnson, Shy Tuttle and even Paul Bain are missed. Emmit Gooden’s injury is felt. But at the designated end spot, Jeremy Pruitt has found some life. LaTrell Bumphus and Matthew Butler have done a pretty good job of making plays out there, so Phillips’s departure is mitigated to a degree.
The push from the defensive tackles, however, is struggling as it was it expected to. Aubrey Solomon has shown flashes, and we heard of Greg Emerson’s potential, but Tracy Rocker has a lot of work to do with these guys. The lack of push up front has forced Derrick Ansley to dial up more blitzes than usual, and Dan Mullen exploited it with lots of screens.
In the opener against the Georgia State Panthers, a lack of push was another key reason for the defense not being able to contain Dan Ellington. Sure, the inside linebackers took horrible angles, but the tackles were the biggest problem.
However, this was one concern we figured would exist early in the season. So it’s just another thing the Vols need to continue working on throughout the bye week. If this unit can begin to emerge, many of the other problems will go away.