Tennessee football report card: Grading the Vols in 35-13 Alabama loss

Defense

Defensive line: A

There’s no doubt that this unit has improved dramatically for Tennessee football. Greg Emerson led the whole team with six tackles and a sack. Darel Middleton and Matthew Butler each had a tackle for a loss as well. So the unit continues to improve, and they showed a lot of talent in this game against a very good offensive line. It’s probably the biggest positive to come from this game.

Linebackers: B

They were short-handed, to be fair. Henry To’o To’o was suspended for the first half due to a targeting penalty last week, and then Daniel Bituli was ejected in the first half due to his own targeting penalty. So Quavaris Crouch did most of the work with help from J.J. Peterson. On the outside, Kivon Bennett made a play, and Darrell Taylor got a few rushes in. So the unit was fine.

Secondary: A-

Nigel Warrior came away with a crucial pick and tied Greg Emerson for a team-leading six tackles. Theo Jackson added five, and Jaylen McCullough and Bryce Thompson each had a tackle for a loss. A high-powered passing offense struggled all day, and even with Tua Tagovailoa’s injury, the Vols deserve a ton of credit for how they handled their pass defense. It’s getting better by the week.

Overall defensive grade: A-

If you take away a horrible penalty call that keeps one drive alive and a dumb fumble by Jarrett Guarantano, Alabama only scores 21 points in this game. That’s how elite Tennessee football’s defense was, and it deserves a ton of credit.