Christian Harrison fixed his eyes on Sam Franklin.
As Franklin took a hand off and rank to Harrison's side of the field, the Tennessee defensive back side-stepped a would-be block and went straight for Franklin, pulling him down to the turf and putting the Oklahoma offense 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage one play into a desperation drive that ended up being a turnover on downs in the third quarter.
TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM
The sequences repeated themselves last Saturday night at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium: Vols' defenders living in the Sooners' backfield and essentinally ending Oklahoma drives before they even started.
The result was a 25-15 Tennessee victory again on the back of its defense, which was so dominating that the Vols took their foot off the gas offensively in the second half, rightfully confident that the Sooners would be unable to muster any kind of momentum.
"The way our defense played on Saturday and the way they played earlier in the year, as an offense you have got to be ready to go find a way to be plus one no matter what happens," Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. "But then the game will form an identity during the course of the game and certainly on Saturday night the way our defense was playing it formed an identity."
Fifth-ranked Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) has found an identity four games in. Players like Harrison are starting to, too.
Harrison's tackle for loss was one of 11 for the Vols' defense against Oklahoma, a sign of how he is settling into the STAR position where he is playing full time for the first time in his three seasons at Tennessee.
Harrison joined the Vols in 2022, playing mainly as a reserve corner as a freshman and sophomore last season. He started taking reps at STAR--the nickel position in coordinator Tim Banks' defense--in the spring and at the two safety spots.
On the eve of Tennessee's fall camp, Jourdan Thomas was positioned for the starting job at STAR, but a season-ending injury just days into camp thrust Harrison into that role along with freshman newcomer Boo Carter.
"I got comfortable pretty fast," Harrison said. "I've always been physical I would say, so it wasn't a crazy tough adjustment since it's what I've always been doing."
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Jayson Jenkins' patience paying off on Vols' defensive line
Harrison has so far taken a bulk of the reps at STAR, totaling 114 defensive snaps in four games. He has accounted for eight tackles, 2.0 TFLs and one quarterback hurry in a Tennessee secondary that has so far exceeded expectations.
"I think I've gotten pretty comfortable as we're going through this thing," Harrison said. "We just finished up game four and with my coverage, keeping my leverage, whether that's inside or outside, and just playing within the framework of the defense. There's still things I need to get better with and with that, I just watch the film and break that down, pick out what those things are.
"But outside of that, I've done a pretty good job at adjusting and playing lethal within the defense."
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