Jeremy Banks shines, leads 'rotation' of linebackers to begin the season

Bowling Green is no juggernaut. It’ll likely be the least-productive offense Tennessee will have faced all season. But as Josh Heupel phrased it postgame (via SEC Inside on the SEC Network), ‘you get a dub – freaking enjoy it.”

Tennessee’s defense had a lot to celebrate Thursday night. Excluding two second quarter field goals, the Volunteer squad pitched a shutout. The unit allowed only 219 yards of total offense to the Falcons on 66 plays. That’s only 3.6 yards per play.

More impressive, the Vols yielded only 32 yards on the ground.

The new-look UT defense, led by the linebacking corps, got off to a good start.

“I was pleased, obviously the way we played, in terms of effort,” defensive coordinator Tim Banks said Tuesday. “I thought our guys played extremely hard. I thought we minimized some mistakes but, trust me, we have some things we want to fix and make sure we execute at a higher level.

“Overall, I think we played a clean game.”

The front-seven saw a healthy dose of players rotating in and out during Tennessee’s 38-6 win over Bowling Green. Line changes up front – sometimes four at a time – was the norm. As was a fresh pair of linebackers [almost] every three series of the ballgame.

“We like to play as many guys as we possibly can, based on the guys who have earned that opportunity,” Banks said of his second-level rotation. “I thought those guys were solid and they will be the first ones to tell you that they left some plays out here on the field. We are working very hard to make sure when the opportunity presents itself again, we will be able to capitalize on it.”

Does this mean we should expect a lot of snaps from each Juwan Mitchell, Jeremy Banks, Aaron Beasley and Solon Page moving forward? Maybe it’ll be on a game-by-game basis.

“If they earn it, they play,” Banks added. “If they don’t, they won’t Those guys earned that opportunity last week and continue to work to try to get that same opportunity this week.”

As expected, Mitchell and Banks got the start and played the first two series on defense before Beasley and Page took their turn. Tennessee needs to create depth at the position, so maybe the rotation that followed was to do just that against an inferior opponent.

Time will tell how true this rotation actually is as the talent drop off from one group to the next was noticeable, in the season-opener.

Nonetheless, Banks stood out. The redshirt-junior registered three tackles, all solo, with one tackle for loss in the outing. He ran sideline-to-sideline well and fit open gaps when a ballcarrier had initial daylight. Banks has been a project for years, but Tennessee needs the fourth-year player to step up in a big way.

“Jeremy plays hard. He is see-ball, get-ball type of guy,” the coordinator said of his linebacker. “He’s starting to understand schematically what we’re trying to get done and as he continues to grow within our system, I think you will see more flashes.

“He is definitely athletic, definitely has the want-to, but he is a work-in-progress, and he knows that. I was pleased with how hard he played.”

Mitchell, meanwhile, didn’t show up at times. He finished the game with zero tackles and the Texas transfer was hardly around the ball upon re-watch. But, that position’s value goes far beyond the box score.

“He didn’t have as much production, but at the end of the day, he did his job,” Banks said of Mitchell. “I thought he commanded the defense and did a great job making sure the front was lined up properly. He didn’t have any missed assignments that stick out.

“Overall, he played a solid game. As far as the rest of the backers, like I said, those guys did a pretty good job and as they continue to grow, they will get better.”

In all, the four-man linebacker rotation finished with a combined nine tackles with Beasley & Banks adding a TFL apiece.

Tennessee will rely on its linebackers to lead the unit against an experienced, fifth-year quarterback in Kenny Pickett Saturday when Pittsburgh comes to town for the Johnny Majors Classic. The game should hand the group their first bit of adversity on the young season.

It’ll be a test – no doubt – but a good measuring stick to find out what this Tennessee defense is all about.

“They’ve got a lot of skill. Skill guys that are running backs who have been there for a long time,” Banks said, concluding his press conference. “Those guys have played a lot of football for them and they are really big up front. We will have our hands full.

“We understand what the expectation is in terms of physicality those guys will try to play with and we will have to try to match that and play with the same energy and edge. They are a veteran offensive group and they have played together for a long time. We have to play hard and work hard to execute and make sure we are doing our job. They are a good offense, a very experienced offense.”