The Vols finish out the strange and lengthy 2020 ten game season with their home finale against Texas A&M. What’s key to pulling off the upset and getting win number 4? Here are four, in our weekly Cheat Sheet.
Stop the run — The Aggies are averaging 185 yards a game on the ground and are giving up less than 100. So it’s going to be hard for the Vol offense to line up and run the ball, but that’s what the Aggies want and expect to do when they have the ball.
The question is can Tennessee stop it. The Vols have put up really good numbers the last two weeks in basically eliminating the Florida and Vanderbilt run games, but neither one of those teams have Isaiah Spiller who’s averaging 5.9 yards a carry on the year. The Aggies have weapons in the passing game that’s tough to contend with, but that doesn’t matter if you can’t slow down Jimbo Fisher’s running attack.
2. Keep Mond in the pocket —Mond has had positive rushing yards in every game this season. In the last four games, the senior is averaging 5.1 yards a run. Against Auburn in Mond’s last outing, the quarterback had 60 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Mond doesn’t take of running all the time but he uses his feet well to escape trouble. Tennessee cannot let Mond get outside of contain to either run or buy time to throw the ball down the field.
3. Win the turnover battle —Tennessee lost the turnover battle but still won. That won’t likely be the case this week if they don’t take care of the ball this week. Quarterback Harrison Bailey has done good job of taking care of the football since he’s been inserted in the line-up that must continue and if JT Shrout is on the field he can’t have “ut-oh” throws. A&M’s defense has forced 11 turnovers while the Aggie offense has turned it over 7 times. In two of the Vols 3 wins, the defense has scored. Tennessee but be on the plus side of the turnover margin if they are going to pull off the upset.
4. Be aggressive — Against a team they were better than and should have beaten, Tennessee was aggressive on both sides of the ball. The Vols blitzed their linebackers in both run blitzes and pass blitzes. And it was effective. Pruitt’s defenders disguised their blitzes better and it gave a struggling Vanderbilt line issues. This week is different. Kellan Mond has been sacked 3 times all year. So getting home with a blitz is a challenge as is getting home with your front four and playing coverage behind them. Tennessee’s pass rush has been a struggle all year. Tennessee is going to have to be creative to find one. Then offensively, the Vols can’t play conservative. They have to throw it on first down and mix things up to try and get the Aggies off-balance. A&M is stingy against the run. So Chaney will have to be creative in how he runs the ball and uses his backs. He’s also got to be aggressive with a passing game. It might not all be deep shots down the field, but he’s going to have to drop back and throw it effectively if they are going to move the ball offensively.
