Tennessee football report card in 42-17 win at Vanderbilt

Defensive grades

Defensive line: B+

Similar to the run game, it would have been shameful for Tennessee football’s defensive line to not have a great performance. Honestly, having only two sacks was disappointing. However, the Vols were in Ken Seals’ face all night and forced a number of bad throws, so we still have to give this an above average grade. It was much better than the Florida Gators game.

Linebackers: B

One of the reasons UT didn’t have many sacks is that the pass rush on the outside wasn’t as aggressive as it should have been. That and the inside linebackers still struggling to defend the pass were issues. However, Henry To’o To’o leading the way to stop the run and holding Vandy to 1.7 yards a carry makes up for all of that. It nearly carried this grade to an A.

Secondary: B-

Bryce Thompson had a pick-six. Jaylen McCollough played his best game of the year. Still, the Vols let Ken Seals throw for 239 yards and 2 touchdowns on them. That shouldn’t have happened given how banged up Vandy is, so we’re giving this barely an average grade, with Thompson’s one play carrying it.

Overall defensive grade: B

Holding a team to 17 points and under 300 yards with one touchdown coming in garbage time is definitely an above average performance. We’ll give that to the Vols. Still, it was against arguably the worst team in SEC history, so take it with a grain of salt.