Saturday should be a fall-out-of-bet win for Tennessee football against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers, but the goal of the Volunteers is to put this one away before halftime so they can rest for the Georgia Bulldogs. Will Healy’s Bucs just beat the Murray State Racers 45-17, so for UT to do that, key players have to step up. Here are the five Vols to keep an eye on against ETSU.
5. Bryson Eason
Against Murray State, ETSU rushed for 392 yards Devontae Houston had 14 carries for 128 yards, D’Marius Rucker had 11 carries for 65 yards, Khalil Eichelberger had six carries for 54 yards. They combined for five touchdowns. This is a vertical run game, so it must be stopped at the point of attack, meaning the one UT defensive tackle playing on Saturday with any experience, Bryson Eason, will be crucial.
4. Joey Aguilar
Yes, this is obvious, but ETSU’s issues are in pass defense. They allowed Murray State quarterback Jim Ogle to throw for 226 yards on them, so Tennessee football has a chance to torch the Bucs. Joey Aguilar had a solid first step. This could be a game for him to pad his stats in the first half and all of a sudden generate a bit of Heisman talk ahead of Georgia.
3. Lance Heard
If Aguilar is to light it up, he’ll need protetcion. ETSU sacked Murray State four times. That means Lance Heard will have to continue to be the best and most experienced offensive lineman at left tackle. UT did a great job last week keeping Aguilar’s jersey clean, but the Syracuse Orange aren’t that much better in the trenches than ETSU, believe it or not, so Heard really needs to step up.
2. Andre Turrentine
Healy’s offense applies west coast concepts with Lane Kiffin’s formations, run by former Ole Miss Rebels assistant Cam Aiken. Spreading it out puts pressure on all defensive backs, and while UT is banged up at cornerback, the safeties are just not that good, at least they weren’t last week. To shut down this offense, they have to step up Saturday, and as the veteran, that means Andre Turrentine needs to be a star.
1. Arion Carter
Part of handling this offense will be the linebackers in coverage, so Tennessee football leader Arion Carter needs to step up. He’ll also be crucial since ETSU could use both drop-back passer Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell, a dual-threat, at the position. Jeremiah Telander willl also be important, but Carter is the big-play guy too, so he can do a couple of things to quickly put this one away.
