Tennessee football: Vols stock report following Week Eight of 2019

Stock up

Defensive line

There’s no doubt that this unit has shown the most dramatic improvement since the beginning of the year. From being unable to get any push to having three players come away with tackles for a loss against the Alabama Crimson Tide, Tennessee football’s dominance up front against the Mississippi State Bulldogs was clearly no fluke. Simply holding their own Saturday was impressive.

Greg Emerson, after limited experience and a ton of hype, is finally living up to that hype and has been the best player up front two weeks in a row. However, Darel Middleton has also been a huge asset. Combine that with Aubrey Solomon and then the solid play of ends like Matthew Butler and LaTroy Lewis, and Jeremy Pruitt finally has a rotation to work with. We now believe in them.

Interior blocking

For two weeks in a row, the Vols have been able to stick with the ground game and start controlling the clock in the second half. It kept them close with Alabama and is the biggest reason for Tim Jordan hitting 94 yards on 17 carries and him combining with Ty Chandler and Eric Gray to average over five yards a carry and go over 100 yards on the day.

What’s been the reason for this? Well, Trey Smith and Brandon Kennedy finally getting back into football shape is probably the biggest one. They’re the two best interior blockers. But as Pruitt mentioned in his Monday presser, more familiarity among the players because of them taking more reps is also helping.