Tennessee football vs. South Carolina: 10 keys for Gamecocks and Vols

9. What will Tennessee’s punt game look like?

In what everybody expects to be a defensive struggle, field position is going to be a big deal. And in recent weeks, Tennessee football has shown that they might struggle significantly in that regard. Something has happened to Joe Doyle, and he has gotten progressively worse to the point that Jeremy Pruitt has been turning to Paxton Brooks at times to punt.

Neither of them averaged over 40 yards against the Alabama Crimson Tide, yet they both still failed to pin any of their punts inside the 20. It was a bad combination for one guy who was a highly touted prospect because of his leg power and another guy who was a freshman All-American because of his abilities last year.

At this point, the Vols are averaging 41.2 yards per punt as a team. However, that’s skewed by what Doyle was doing before he fell apart. Meanwhile, the South Carolina Gamecocks as a team are averaging over 48 yards per punt behind the leg of Joseph Charlton, and that’s a major advantage in their favor. So the question becomes this: Which Joe Doyle shows up?

If the guy who made it onto the Ray Guy Award watch list midseason is there, this issue is a wash. That’s why we have it down here. But if the Doyle of the last few weeks shows up, South Carolina will own the field position battle. And that’s exactly the type of thing that would make the difference in a tough game like this.