Tennessee football at LSU: 10 keys to the game
1. Health and awareness of QBs
If the pass rush, linebacker awareness and interior blocking to allow the quarterbacks to run are all key to this game, obviously the quarterbacks themselves are crucial. Once again, there are so many similarities here that should make Tennessee football’s matchup highly intriguing.
For starters, Jayden Daniels and Hendon Hooker are both mobile quarterbacks. Daniels has 60 carries for 321 yards and three touchdowns, and Hooker has to 35 carries for 175 yards and three touchdowns. More interesting, though, is that neither has thrown an interception this year, so they are mobile while taking care of the ball.
Of course, their defenses each have four interceptions, so it’ll be crucial for both of them to maintain that carefulness here, which can be difficult in offenses like Brian Kelly’s and Josh Heupel’s. Meanwhile, they also have to know when to take off, particularly Hooker given the press coverage LSU plays.
Finally, both are actually banged up. Hooker suffered an upper-body injury against Florida, and Daniels suffered a knee injury against Auburn. Although Hooker is likely to be much more okay, that does complicate things to a certain degree. Daniels’ mobility in jeopardy is also a big deal.
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Simply put, Tennessee football’s success comes down to quarterback play, as does LSU’s. When you have coaches like Heupel and Kelly, that makes sense. Hooker faced Kelly while with the Virginia Tech Hokies, which could make this interesting. These two quarterbacks do it all, and they’re actually both putting up highly efficient numbers, so watch out.