To say that Tennessee passed their first designated “big game” test last weekend might be a bit of an understatement. The non-conference matchup was only one of two Top 25 matchups for the weekend with both turning out to be routs.
Texas went into Ann Arbor and completely scorched the defending national champion Wolverines in front of a sold out home crowd. And then Tennessee took on NC State on a neutral field in Charlotte and took control of the game after a tight first quarter to win going away.
I thought the Tennessee fans traveled well as usual for this game. From my vantage point in the stadium, it appeared it was at least 50/50 and Tennessee might have had a slight advantage with fan attendance. And after a sweltering hot day in Knoxville for the season opener against UTC, the weather was absolutely perfect in Charlotte with the temps in the low 80’s to start the game and then dropping into the 70’s as the game progressed.
We learned a lot about this Tennessee team during Saturday’s game. The big eye opener was with the Vol defense. It’s for real and actually has been for a while. The Vol defense hasn’t given up a touchdown in twelve quarters. Vanderbilt last scored a touchdown on the Tennessee defense during the 2023 regular season finale.
The defensive line is clearly leading the way for the Tennessee defense along with what appears to be an increase in speed with the Vol linebackers and secondary. The Tennessee defensive line completely throttled the NC State running game and lived in the Wolfpack’s backfield on passing plays. The evolution of Tennessee’s defense should put future opponents on notice that Tennessee is no longer a team that just depends on its’ offense to win.
The Vol offense had another big game after a slower than normal start partly due to NC State’s early ball control. NC State had the ball for 7 minutes on their first possession while the Vols first possession went for only 2 1/2 minutes. I was sitting with a buddy that had a betting app on his phone. The over/under number dropped from 61 points to 47 after those two possessions. Fortunately the Tennessee defense made some adjustments to shake up the NC State’s short passing game and the Vol offense kicked into their normal high gear on generating points.
Nico Iamaleava and Dylan Sampson had big games again but Nico did serve notice that he is still a freshman. From my view on his first interception, it appeared he may have been telegraphing. I recall looking to Bru McCoy on the play when I saw Nico looking that way. Bru already had two defenders on him and quickly picked up a third when the overthrown pass went in the air. I’m confident that was a lesson learned for Nico. On the length of the field pick 6, while the bulk of that busted play falls on the missed block, Nico probably will have more pressure awareness next time and just take the sack as that pressure was in his face and not from the blindside.
By the way, do you ever recall seeing two length of the field pick 6’s in the same game, one by each team? I believe one was 85 yards and the other 87. That was crazy!
Sampson was a beast. When he wasn’t juking and running by the NC State defenders, he was breaking tackles and running over the defense. He was a load all night to get on the ground. He is well on his way to becoming an all-time great Tennessee running back if he can stay healthy given his running ability plus talent as a receiver on screens and wheel routes. I’m anxious to see how he, and Nico, do when the Vols hit the field in Norman to take on OU in a couple of weeks. Vols will need all hands on deck for that road test.
So now the 7/9 ranked Vols go into a contest on GameDay 3 where they are an almost a 50-point favorite over the 134th, that’s last place, ranked team in the latest USA Today 1-134 rankings. Clearly a few overwhelming favorites had a tough GameDay 2, #1 example – Notre Dame, so Vols can’t just take the week off. The really big concern with these types of games are injuries. The Vols need everyone healthy when they travel to OU (13/15) for what undoubtedly will be a SEC level physical game and most likely one of the loudest and most hostile environments the Vols will play in this season. I went to Norman when the Vols played there a few years back. It’s a great college football atmosphere and the OU fans love their Sooners as much as UT fans love their Vols.
First things first, take care of the Kent State Golden Flashes with no injuries in Neyland Stadium Saturday night!
