Tennessee football report card in 34-13 loss to Aggies

Defensive grades

Defensive line: B-

Kurrott Garland led the charge here. Tennessee football struggled up front stopping the run, allowing the Texas A&M Aggies to go for over 200 yards on the ground, but that’s largely because they got tired due to time of possession issues out of their hand. Holding Isaiah Spiller to under three and a half yards per carry is an above average performance.

Linebackers: C+

Henry To’o To’o and Quavaris Crouch did an amazing job at stopping the run up the middle. However, they struggled to contain Kellen Mond in spy, they still weren’t great at defending the pass, and the edge rushers got no pass rush. Deandre Johnson’s two penalties made it worse. All of those things bring the grade to average.

Secondary: D+

Alontae Taylor is the major exception here, and Theo Jackson was ok. However, the secondary continued to struggle in defending the pass, as Mond was highly efficient. His easy third down conversions kept the Aggies on the field, and that’s enough for us to make this below average.

Overall defensive grade: C-

Part of the defensive woes was due to the horrendous play of the offense, and that’s why we didn’t put this grade in the below average range. However, being unable to get off the field was the story here.