Tennessee football: Five key Vols to watch for vs. Akron
839. Scouting Report. Senior. 2. player. Pick Analysis. Defensive end. Byron Young
6’3″ 245 pounds
Obviously, the lack of sacks by Tennessee football in their opener against the Ball State Cardinals is of no concern. That was about Ball State’s schemes, and it was proven last week at the Pittsburgh Panthers, as the Vols came away with four sacks, nine tackles four a loss, 16 hurries and four pass deflections, three at the line.
Byron Young had a sack, two tackles for a loss and three hurries. He and Tyler Baron were both epic, but since Young is the bigger star, he is the more crucial guy here. Moorhead’s offense begs for edge rushers to rack up sacks. Michigan State’s Jacoby Windmon had one and a half sacks and two and a half tackles for a loss last week.
In their opener, St. Francis’ Sebastian Benjamin came away with three sacks. Heck, three years ago when Mississippi State visited the Vols, Darrell Taylor came away with two sacks. This is the best way to shut down Akron’s offense, and it’s how UT’s defense can put this game away early.
The reason for these high sack totals is if the edge rusher can stay at home on one of the RPO pass plays, he usually has a free shot. Young is a veteran at this point and should be good at doing that, so unless Tim Banks and Josh Heupel pull him early, he has a chance to explode.