Tennessee football: Five key Vols to watch for vs. Akron

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Through the first two weeks of the season, Aaron Beasley has emerged over Jeremy Banks as Tennessee football’s top linebacker so far. That’ll change throughout the course of the season as the Vols face more teams that don’t rely solely on the drop-back passing game. Since Akron doesn’t rely on that, it could change here.

However, Akron’s RPO offense still has a heavy focus on the pass. Whether that’s because of the schemes that St. Francis and Michigan State had on defense or because that’s what Moorhead’s personnel dictates he do this year remains to be seen, but they threw it 37 times in the opener and 35 times last week.

If the focus on the pass is that heavy, Beasley will be more crucial. Given his background playing safety and the fact that he’s more comfortable in the system at linebacker now, Beasley is a more natural coverage linebacker than Banks. That’s why he has stood out the past two games.

With 22 overall tackles and nine solo tackles, both of which lead the team, Beasley seems to have really emerged. He also brought he pressure that forced both Vols’ interceptions this year, and in the opener, that was because he stayed home. He’ll have to be good at that a lot in this one.