Tyler Baron walked to Tennessee podium with a business-like approach. It was almost as if he was in game mode on Tuesday, when he met with the assembled media.
When asked about the personal significance of the Florida game, the Knoxville native said, “To be honest with you, I look at it like every other week.”
Okay, let’s move on. Baron, who plays defensive end and linebacker, would much rather talk about the Florida game and what lies ahead in Neyland Stadium when the Gators hit the field at 3:30 on Saturday. Tennessee is a 10.5-point favorite and it seems there are only a few ways that the Vols can let yet another game slip away, which is commonplace in this series.
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson may not be the best passer in the SEC or even the best quarterback. However, he is an athletic player that can make plays on the ground if the Vols aren’t sound in their rush lanes.
In more layman terms, the Vols have to make sure they don’t allow gaping holes up front for Richardson to exploit if he can’t find a receiver downfield.
“It’s just us really being conscious and making a consistent effort of us keeping him in the pocket like you said, but gap integrity is so important, just because when you say the outside rushers get high and the inside is not on the same level, you create seams,” Baron said, “So, we just have to do a great job of keeping us in unison and keeping him corralled this week.”
The easiest thing to do, and it might be the Vols’ approach, is to keep things simple in order to make sure that Richardson doesn’t break containment. However, Baron hinted that the Vols might have some defensive variations this week.
“He’s a very skilled guy,” the junior said. “Just giving him different looks to make him read our defense, and make the decision and make him beat us…We definitely try to mix it up and try to throw different looks at them just so they think they’re getting one picture and we give them something different. We’ve definitely done some new things. We definitely have a good game plan this week.”
One of the keys to stopping Florida will be to put the Gators in bad down-and-distance situations. Then, the Vols can rush Richardson, while maintaining gap integrity, which will force him to throw in order to beat the Vols.
“It will be huge this week, putting them in weird situations, third-and-longs, a lot of second-and-longs to get set up for that third-and-long, but I think it will be essential for us to make it tough for them and make them have to make bigger plays.”
Need a football game plan that sounds more like a business plan? Baron has that tucked away in his briefcase.
