Tennessee football: Five Akron Zips to watch for against Vols

6’4″ 255 pounds

While Byron Young and Tyler Baron are destined to wreak havoc on Akron’s offense, the Zips have their own defensive end who can wreak havoc. Victor Jones is a defensive end who is third on the team in tackles with 13, behind linebacker Bubba Arslanian and defensive back Darrian Lewis, both of whom have 15 total tackles.

However, Jones leads the team in solo tackles with nine, and he has four tackles for a loss as well. Nobody else on the team has more than one. Add in a sack, and he pretty much has been all over the field despite being a player who lines up at defensive end. Simply put, this kid is dangerous.

Jones has been well-coached. He comes to Akron after four years with the Wyoming Cowboys, and Craig Bohl out there is very skilled at coaching defensive linemen. However, he never had more than four and a half tackles for a loss at Wyoming, and he already has four with Akron, so he appears destined for a breakout year.

The Vols did allow three sacks against Pitt last week, and while Pitt has an elite pass rush, that could turn into a legitimate concern for them, especially with inexperience still at left tackle. As a result, Jones could end up being a major factor in this game.