The Cheat Sheet
Saturday afternoon Tennessee hosts South Carolina in need of a win and obviously in search of some offense. What's key for the Vols to get their first SEC win of the year? Here are four in what we call The Cheat Sheet.
Get out of the gates – Tennessee's offense has scored one touchdown in the first quarter in five games this season and that was against Indiana State. South Carolina hasn't been great out of the gates either. The Gamecocks have only converted 1 of 14 third down attempts in the first quarter of the last four games.
Obviously, Tennessee is going with a new signal caller in Jarrett Guarantano and so getting him into a rhythm early would be huge for an offense that's struggling to find their way. Defensively Tennessee has been solid through five games. They gave up 10 points to Georgia but three of that came on a three and out. With the game being a noon start and a less than capacity crowd expected, getting off to a good start for a team has lots of questions is key.
Run the football – Changing quarterbacks makes the most sense, but no one should expect that to be a cure all for the Vol offense. There are still plenty of warts. Can the receivers suddenly get open? Can Guarantano be more accurate and on time more than Quinten Dormady? That's asking a lot out of a unit that hasn't shown it to this point and out of a quarterback who has a very limited about of experience. So Tennessee has to be able to run the football. After rushing for 183 yards at Florida, Tennessee gained 135 against UMass and only 62 yards against Georgia. South Carolina is giving up 146 yards a game on the ground and have had some issues with a mobile quarterback. Texas A&M's Kelly Mond rushed for 95 yards and Kentucky's Stephen Johnson rushed for 74 yards. Getting Guarantano's legs involved could be a key to the Vols being successful on the ground.
Limit big plays – It's a given every week with the Vol defense. It's just the way it is. Tennessee has been better in limiting the big plays in 2017, but they have still give up too many. Tennessee only gave up one play over over 30 yards to Georgia. For the year they have given up 8 plays of over 30 yards which is a real improvement, but 6 of those 8 have come the last three games. Meanwhile, South Carolina has used the big play as a staple of their offense. The Gamecocks have 12 plays of 30 yards or more including a 62 yard TD pass last week. Of their 12 plays over 30 yards, seven have gone for scores.
The Carolina offense has had it's struggles, but they have used the big plays to help get them going
Play with pride and let it hang out – Everyone knows the pressure that is mounting seemingly daily on Rocky Top. There is obviously tons of distractions and worry from the top to the bottom of the program. There's questions surrounding the health of the locker room and the leadership of this team.
But as coaches say you are only given 12 guaranteed opportunities and that's the mindset this team must take to the field. Adversity is coming. Boo's are coming. Things aren't going to go exactly as planned. Yet some way, somehow this team has to get back to what it did against Georgia Tech and Florida and that's just play. Keep playing, keep coaching and do so without fear of failure.