Tennessee’s defense is, by all accounts, considered one of the best in the country. However, the Vols have shown signs of vulnerability as they head into their match up against Georgia on Saturday night.
The Vols gave up 179 yards rushing against the Bulldogs, who aren’t exactly considered running juggernauts. Mississippi State ranks just 11th in the SEC in rushing defense with 146.9 yards per game. Surprisingly, that’s better than the Bulldogs that the Vols will face this week. Georgia ranks just 15th in the SEC with 124 yards rushing per game.
“We just got to continue to build a wall, shoot our gaps, get the double teams off the d-linemen,” Tennessee linebacker Jeremiah Telander said. “I know our guys are going to continue to do that. So I’m not worried about that. We just got to continue to build a defensive wall.”
The Vols probably shouldn’t be too concerned. Despite the off-day against Mississippi State, Tennessee is still second in the SEC, allowing just 100 yards rushing per game.
Telander said there wasn’t anything too innovtive to State’s attack, which averaged 4.7 yards per carry. The Vols have allowed just 2.8 yards per carry this season.
“They were just running regular insert counter inside zone,” the sophomore said. “They weren’t doing anything special. Like I said, we just got to build the defensive wall.”
No matter what State did on the ground, the Vols have still put up elite numbers. The Vols have yet to give up 20 points in any game this season, which no other team in the nation has done. Georgia is averaging 30.6 points per game this season, which is seventh best in the SEC. Arkansas scored the most points against the Vols when the Razorbacks put up 19 points in an upset win over Tennessee on Oct. 5.
“Definitely take pride in that,” Telander said of not allowing an opponent to score 20 points this season. “The goal every game is to hold them to zero, so we don’t even want 14 on there, but we definitely talk about that. It’s a defensive mindset that they don’t score in our end zone.”
This week may be a bit more special for Telander, who is from Gainesville, Ga. However, he wasn’t willing to admit as much as he noted the Vols’ “next-game” mentality.
The Vols haven’t been at their best in their last two games against the run. Tennessee also gave up 168 yards against Kentucky, which averaged 4.5 yards per carry in the Vols’ previous game.
“It’s really just us just fitting our gaps, just being gap sound,” Tennessee defensive lineman Jayson Jenkins said.
The Vols are hoping to be sound at quarterback as well as in their gaps on defense. Starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava is expected to play Saturday after being held out of the Mississippi State game in the second half with either a shoulder injury, a concussion or both.
“As a defense, we always have the offense’s back and nothing really changed for us,” Telander said. “The standard is the standard.”
