To nobody’s surprise, Tennessee football enjoyed a cakewalk Saturday as they beat the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers 72-17 Saturday. Josh Heupel team improved to 2-0 with the Georgia Bulldogs set to come to town next week in the SEC opener for both programs. Here are five things we learned from the Vols’ dominating victory over an FCS foe.
Passing game continues to look different.
Joey Aguilar already throws a better deep ball than any UT quarterback since Hendon Hooker, and he processes more quickly than Nico Iamaleava or Joe Milton III, so it was obvious in their season-opening win over the Syracuse Orange the passing game excitement would return. However, he does something different than even Hooker: Throw jump-balls.
Maybe this was one of the new wrinkles Heupel installed this offseason as he brought in Seth Littrell to be an offensive analyst, but Aguilar, who threw for 288 yards, threw a jump-ball up to Mike Matthews that turned into a 53-yard touchdown, and he threw a fade for a score to Chris Brazzell II. Jake Merklinger also threw a fade. Both receivers had over 100 yards.
Boo Carter showed his value.
After the way his offseason went and his struggles on defense in the first game, there were plenty of reasons for Tennessee football fans to want the program to move on from Boo Carter. However, he showed why Heupel has a different set of rules for him in this game with his elite punt returns. Carter had punt returns of 40, 34 and 16 yards.
The two longer ones set up touchdowns, and the 16-yard return set up a field goal. Carter was also much better at the STAR position this week. Sure, playing ETSU helped, but he also just seems to be getting more comfortable in the system. UT’s offense was sputtering at times early, so Carter’s returns were huge to get it going.
Back 7 was elite despite injuries.
No Jermod McCoy or Rickey Gibson III? No problem. Okay, so it was against the Bucs, but they ran two quarterbacks, as expecterd in Cade McNamara and Jacolby Criswell, who played at the FBS level. McNamara was once All Big Ten and started with the Iowa Hawkeyes and Michigan Wolverines. He’s a drop-back passer while Criswell came in for the dual-threat wrinkle.
It didn’t matter. Tennessee football was ready for both. Tim Banks’ unit could have been better at stopping the run, but with the exception of a field goal drive to open the second half in which Will Healy scripted a lot of creative plays, the entire back seven was elite at handling the Bucs. Carter’s improvement was a part of this, but everybody out there played well.
Second team defense looks concerning.
Depth is crucial when it comes to this sport, and Tennessee football is already banged up on the defensive line and, as we mentioned, in the secondary. That could be why they gave up a lot more yards as Heupel emptied his bench. However, when you’re playing an FCS school your walk-ons should be able to win the one-on-one matchups, and that wasn’t always the case on defense.
We mentioned the field goal drive the Vols gave up to start the second half, but they also allowed ETSU to go on a six-play 75-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Given the injuries this team is facing at the moment, it looks like it could be a big problem if more guys get hurt down the line. McCoy, Gibson, Daevin Hobbs and Jaxson Moi need to get healthy fast.
Running backs are better than their blocking.
Interior offensvie line looks good because of how hard Star Thomas and DeSean Bishop run. Peyton Lewis is a good back but doesn’t run hard, and that’s why he had just eight carries for 19 yards and a touchdown. Thomas had 12 carries for 69 yards and three scores, all in the first half, and Bishop had a 50-yard run on the first play, finishing with three carries for 68 yards.
Sam Pendleton highlight the issues with a bad snap over Aguilar’s head that was recovered by ETSU and set up their first-half touchdown. Issues were to be expected with the Vols replacing four new starters up front, including everybody on the interior, and then David Sanders Jr.’s injury forcing them to reshuffle, but it could be a concern ahead of the Georgia Bulldogs.
