Tennessee defensive lineman Omari Thomas wouldn’t take the bait. He’s not ready to proclaim the Vols’ defense as one of the best in the nation even though they certainly look like it and, statistically, are right up there with the best of them.
“I feel like we’re a good defense,” Thomas said with a sly grin after the Vols’ 51-10 beat down of North Carolina State on Saturday in the Duke’s May Classic. “ I feel like we come in everyday, just trying to get better. We don’t get complacent in our work and we just come in wanting to grow everyday. We play with each other and just build the chemistry and we want to go out there and work.”
It’s nice to know Thomas is still intent on him and his defense improving. However, the senior from Memphis was willing to admit that the Vols probably played their best defensive game on Saturday during his five-year career as a Vol.
“Probably so, Thomas said, “but I feel like we have to play hard, win the line of scrimmage on offense and defense and I feel like we did that today. I feel like we have to continue to grow and get better…We have to continue to grow, but I feel like we came out and played hard today and had a good game.”
With a potentially elite defense in place, another media member just couldn’t help ask if the Vols could be an already established defense this year. Thomas used a verbal swim move to offset the notion that Tennessee has arrived.
“We’ve got to continue to grow everyday,” he said said. “We’ve got to continue to grow everyday.”
If the Vols continue to grow, they’ll almost certainly be one of the top defenses in the nation. In fact, after giving up 143 yards to the Wolfpack, the Vols are sixth best in the nation in yards allowed per game. That’s not good enough, per Thomas.
“I feel like we had a lot of mental errors, a lot of mistakes on our part,” Thomas said. “I feel like we did come out and play hard today and won the line of scrimmage. We want to play on the other line of scrimmage everyday so we’ll take it, look and the film and try to do it next week.”
The Vols play Kent State on Saturday in Neyland Stadium. If Tennessee’s defense gets better in the coming days before then, the Golden Eagles will be grounded early and, perhaps, buried on Shields-Watkins Field.
