Published Oct 9, 2019
S&P Stock Report: Mississippi State
Jesse Simonton, Austin Price
VolQuest Staff
info icon
Embed content not available

Tennessee played its best game of the season last Saturday and still lost to No. 3 Georgia by 29 points.

The Vols are still looking for their first win over an FBS opponent, with Mississippi State coming to town for a nooner (SEC Network) in Neyland Stadium.

Jesse Simonton and Austin Price deliver their analysis on the 1-4 Vols with the latest S&P Stock Report.

STOCK REPORT: WEEK 6
📈Brian Maurer: Tennessee's freshman quarterback provided a spark Saturday night, throwing two early touchdowns including a 73-yard bomb to Marquez Callaway. Maurer finished with 259 yards on 50% passing, but he was decisive with the football and showed potential promise the offseason can build upon. 

📉

Tennessee's pass rush: The Vols rank last in the SEC in sacks with just eight on the season. They had just three hurries against Georgia and didn't hit Jake Fromm once. Darrell Taylor has just one sack and three hurries in five games.

↔️

The offensive line: Will Friend's unit has shown progress this season but it wore down in the second half against Georgia and lost starting right guard Riley Locklear to injury. The unit has been much better in pass protection compared to run blocking. Some balance would really help the offense.

📈

Marquez Callaway: The senior wideout recorded his first 100-yard game since the season-opener against Georgia Tech in 2017. Callaway has been one of Maurer's biggest advocates and the two displayed a strong connection in their first significant action together.

📉

Tennessee's running game: The Vols rank last in the SEC averaging 3.75 yards per carry. Outside of Ty Chandler's explosion against BYU (154 yards), the tailbacks haven't had much room to operate.