Everybody saw what happened last Saturday. Tennessee football almost blew a 38-21 lead against the Florida Gators. Yes, the failure to cover an onside kick and Josh Heupel taking his foot off the pedal late was part of that.
However, there’s no denying that the pass defense was a major issue. Anthony Richardson, who had struggled all year to that point, threw for over 450 yards.
Although the Vols not have cornerback Warren Burrell was a factor, it is hard to fathom the pass defense could be so awful. However, Josh Heupel noted that it goes beyond just the secondary.
“The tackling down the football field at times was not good enough,” Heupel said in his bye week press conference Wednesday. “Then there’s some coverage lapses, too. In what we do, that can be all three levels.”
Specifically, linebackers in coverage has been an issue for the Vols since the beginning of last year. That’s one area where they still haven’t fully rebuilt.
Heupel said that the linebackers being in the right spot when the Vols drop a lot of guys into coverage is crucial. That was as much of an issue as the tackling and the coverage among the defensive backs.
“It’s a combination of all those things that didn’t allow us to get us off the field enough,” he said. “We had them in a bunch of second-and-longs and third-and-longs, too, and we’ve got to take advantage of those situations.”
This isn’t to absolve the defensive backs, who have real issues nobody can ignore. UT is replacing its best cover cornerback for the second year in a row, Alontae Taylor. Replacing Theo Jackson at star has also proven tricky.
Add in the injuries to Burrell and Dee Williams, and the expectations should’ve always been tempered. This is one area where depth isn’t strong yet.
Still, because of those issues, Tennessee football’s secondary needs help everywhere else. Even the offense can step up and help at times.
“Our kids understand how we’re playing, and I’m saying every player on our roster understands what the flow of the game typically is,” he said. “Offensively, if we’re not picking up the first first down, obviously that can be a quick change and something you don’t want to do offensively because you want to go score, and obviously you want to give your defense a little bit of time to make some adjustments on the sideline, too.”
Given the fact that Tim Banks was going to focus on taking away Richardson’s rushing attack through containment, even more pressure was on the secondary last Saturday. That’s because pressure on Richardson was limited.
The coaches were daring Richardson to perform with his arm, and to be fair, he did just that. Heupel noted that he deserves credit for his play.
“He’s a good player and made some plays with his feet and with his arm, too,” he said. “Some of their max protections, they were able to block it up pretty well and give him time to push the football down the field.”
Tackling, understanding assignments and taking the proper angles are all key to slowing down what Richardson did, according to Heupel. Fortunately for the Vols, they have a bye to work on those things.
“It’s just being a little bit better in fundamentals and technique, having their eyes in the right place and understanding situation football,” he said. “It’s things that they can and will do here as we continue to move (forward).”
Of course, things won’t get much easier for Tennessee football coming off the bye, as they visit the LSU Tigers. Brian Kelly is a brilliant offensive mind himself.
More importantly, LSU’s offense seems to have taken off under him. That’s a scary thought for a UT defense that, no matter what they do, will have issues this year. Heupel described the Tigers as long and athletic.
“Offensively, (they) have some skill players that can affect the game,” he said. “It’s a good football team.”
If Tennessee football is going to win that game, the offense has to step up, and the linebackers have to do their part in coverage. They can’t put the pass defense all on the secondary.
