Tennessee football: Five areas of improvement for Vols after second bye

3. Establishing the run game better

With two elite senior receivers in Marquez Callaway and Jauan Jennings, it’s smart of Jim Chaney to just chuck it downfield at times and hope for one-on-one matchups. Both of these guys are elite, and they have been carrying Tennessee football to victory all year, especially during this turnaround stretch over the past few weeks.

However, in the process, the running game has suffered. The Vols have found a rotation on the offensive line now with two elite freshman tackles in Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris while the interior blocking has improved dramatically with Trey Smith and Brandon Kennedy getting back into a rhythm. But it hasn’t translated to a consistent running game.

Now, it made sense against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, as Chaney played extremely conservative, so the Vols averaging under four years a carry was fine as long as they controlled the clock. But Ty Chandler and the crew could not get anything going against the South Carolina Gamecocks. He had a brief comeback against the UAB Blazers with 99 total yards.

Against the Kentucky Wildcats, however, the run game was disastrous. Chaney kept UK in it by not keeping it on the ground after getting the lead. Then, when he did go to it, Chandler had a crucial fumble that almost cost the Vols the game. So there’s no consistency up front in the run game despite Chandler coming in as UT’s best offensive weapon. That has to change during the bye.