Tennessee opens SEC play on the road and as a huge underdog at Florida. What’s key for the Vols to have a chance to pull the upset and shock the college football world? Here are four, in our weekly Cheat Sheet.
Survive up front — Tennessee’s offensive line didn’t move Tennessee Tech very well at all last week. And over the last 8 quarters the Vol tailbacks have rushed for 160 yards on 53 carries. Their longest tailback run this season is 15 yards.
Saturday in the swamp it won’t be easy to run he ball. Florida held Alabama under 100 yards rushing and has only giving up 292 yards on the ground in 3 games. Florida has only recorded 2 sacks to this point which is good news for the Vols who have given up 8 on the year.
Tennessee hopes the return of Cooper Mays will not only help their pace of play but also their continuity and communication up front.
On the other side, Tim Banks’ defense has been good against the run giving up just 163 yards in 3 games. But the challenge this week is on a different level.
Florida in three games has rushed for 1007 yards and 11 scores. The Gators are averaging 7.6 yards a carry. They rushed for 244 yards against Alabama.
The Vol defensive front has played better than people expected while the offensive front has struggled with consistency. Things are different for both today and Tennessee has to find a way to survive in the trenches.
2. Get out of the gates offensively — For Tennessee the first quarter has been a quarter of missed opportunity. The Vols are outscoring their opponents 38-0 in the first quarter, but it could and should be more. Tennessee has missed deep balls in the first 15 minutes of every game this year leaving points on the field.
Florida has given up 24 points in the first quarter and nothing in the second quarter. Tennessee needs to get out of the gates offensively and get settled in. To do that they much execute better offensively coming out of the locker room.
3. Tackle in space — This might be the biggest task of the day. Florida’s running back are good and their quarterbacks have been electric with the ball in their hands running around. They are looking to get one on one in the open field.
Tennessee has tackled pretty well in their first three games and the defenses pursuit to the ball has been excellent. Both have to be great today.
One other thing to watch is the defenses ability to play contain off the edge. Pitt’s Kenny Pickett found a soft corner a couple of times and made the defense pay. The defense must hold their edge if they hope to slow dow the quarterback runs.
4. Make it a four quarter fight —I know it’s a cliche but Tennessee hasn’t done that recently. As a nearly 3 touchdown underdog can Tennessee get the game into the fourth quarter competitively? To do that Tennessee must clean up plenty of offensive mistakes in execution and defensively they must create turnovers and force field goals. Get to the fourth quarter and be within striking distance and anything can happen.
