Tennessee’s Derek Barnett and Texas A&M’s Myles Garrett are seemingly compared at any mention of SEC defensive ends.
Through 29 career games, Garrett has racked up 27 sacks, 38.5 tackles and five forced fumbles for the Aggies. Barnett has 24 sacks, 41.5 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles over 31 career games.
But, even though everyone else may look at the two most feared pass rushers in the SEC and compare, Barnett said he doesn’t spend any time doing that, instead he’s worried about Texas A&M’s offense.
“I’m excited because it’s the next game. I play against the offense so I just go watch film on the offensive guys,” Barnett said. “They have a great offense as well.
“Myles is a great ball player. But, I think it’s going to be a great game. I’m ready to play.”
Barnett continued, “No, I don’t know him and I don’t keep tabs on him. I keep tabs on myself on my team. That’s what I'm worried about. As long as we’re winning I’m happy.”
One major key to Saturday’s game will be the play of A&M’s veteran transfer quarterback Trevor Knight. While he has numerous options through the air, Knight can be just as deadly on the ground.
The former Oklahoma quarterback has 392 rushing yards in five games and Barnett said the defensive line has to be aware of Knight’s ability to get outside the pocket and make plays.
“Trevor Knight is a good ball player. I’m excited to play against him. He’s a great athlete,” Barnett said. “I just look at it is a challenge and the guys up front look at it as a challenge. We have to be more disciplined this week on our pass rush points. We know he can run and hurt us with his feet because he’s basically another running back at the quarterback spot. It’s a challenge for us up front but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Another challenge will be starting fast. Tennessee’s defense has given up 77 of 115 (66 percent) points surrendered in the first half of games this year.
Despite remaining confident after a 5-0 start and four comebacks from double-digit deficits, Barnett said the team knows the slow starts could come back to haunt them in the future.
“We’re very confident. We were very confident to start the season because we have a lot of talented guys,” Barnett said. “But, I think our team is starting to understand we can’t hurt ourselves early in games. Coach Jones has been stressing this week, ‘Let’s make it a four quarter ball game.’ We’re going to play good football from the beginning to the end.”
To that end, Barnett said even after his SEC Defensive Player of the Week performance against Georgia where he racked up five tackles, two sacks and forced a fumble, he can play better.
“After every game there’s always something I can do better. I didn’t play my best game against Georgia,” Barnett said. “I’m still a little sloppy with some techniques. I’ve been working my hands this week and there’s always something I can improve after every game.”
DESTINY?
Anyone paying even a little bit of attention to Tennessee football this year is well aware that the Vols have had some trouble starting games quickly.
Incredibly, Tennessee has had to overcome a double-digit deficit in every game they’ve played this fall. That tendency to start slow hasn’t derailed the Vols yet, but they’ve had to rely on some second half heroics in order to avoid a loss on their way to a 5-0 start.
This past weekend’s miraculous escape at Georgia, hard on the heels of erasing a 21-0 deficit against Florida, has some college football observers calling this Tennessee squad a ‘team of destiny.’
Josh Dobbs has heard those plaudits being tossed around, and while he acknowledges that finding a way to win, no matter how improbable, has given this team some confidence, he’d prefer to see the Vols put four quarters of solid play together and avoid some of the fantastic finishes they’ve had to pull off.
“It gives you confidence, doing what we’ve done, but it raises the question of, if we can do it when we’re down like that, why can’t we just do it from the beginning of the game,” Dobbs said of the Vols’ tendency to flirt with disaster before roaring back. “If we could do that from the start it might change the whole complexion of the game.
“That’s what we’re trying to get across, and we understand that we need to come out stronger in the first half, not make those uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half and put ourselves in those deficits that we have to fight out of. We want to come out and execute from the beginning and play a full 60 minute game.”
NEXT MAN UP
One of Butch Jones’ favorite sayings when discussing injuries and the impact they have on his football team is to simply say, ‘next man up.’ The implication is clear, injuries are a part of the game and each one provides an opportunity for someone to step in and get the job done.
The Vols have dealt with some big injuries on the defensive side of the ball and no one has personified the ‘next man up’ mantra more than Colton Jumper, who has admirably stepped into the void left by Darrin Kirkland Jr.’s absence at middle linebacker.
Jumper has led the Vols in tackles in each of the last two weeks as the starter in the middle, recording eight tackles against Florida and 11 against Georgia this past weekend. Along the way he’s quieted some doubters and earned an increasing amount of respect from his teammates.
“Jump just stepped right and played great football,” Khalil McKenzie said of Jumper’s performance since Kirkland Jr. went down. “That’s something we really pride ourselves on as a team and especially on defense, that next-man up mentality. The next guy is expected to come in and do the same job, or even do it better than the guy before him.
“DK (Kirkland) is one of my best friends, a guy that I was around a lot as a recruit before I even got here. Not having him there, he’s a great player, hurts the defense, but Colton has stepped right and risen the level of his play and the level of people around him.”
GUARDED REPLY
Several people have made reference to Kahlil McKenzie's body build and how much success he could potentially have on the offensive line. Asked on Tuesday if he has ever thought of playing offensive guard, the sophomore didn't scoff at the notion.
"I have thought about it," McKenzie said. "Who knows? I think I'd be good at anything I play. I'm an athlete. Whatever it takes, but I'm a defensive tackle right now and I'm focused on being the best one I can be right now."
McKenzie's father and uncle were offensive lineman at Tennessee during the 1980's and his younger brother is an offensive tackle with several power five offers.
