Stopping the run was a point of emphasis for Tennessee's defensive front last spring.
The Vols were among the best in college football in doing it a year ago and those that returned wanted to do it again.
Nine games in its 2023 campaign, Tennessee is limiting opponents to an SEC-best 97.3 yards per game—more than 60 yards better than where it finished last season.
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"That's the main thing we're here for, really, trying to stop the run," Tennessee defensive lineman Elijah Simmons said. "Then once you get done with first and second down, they go to pass on third. Stopping the run, we're very prideful in that. We're trying to take more and more pride in it every week as we go on through the rest of the season."
Tennessee has allowed 100-plus yards just three times this season. Its most impressive triumph came in its 33-27 win over Kentucky two weeks ago.
Wildcats running back Ray Davis entered that match up as one of the most productive backs in the nation but the Vols' defensive game plan made him largely a non-factor, accounting for a season-low 42 yards with an average less than three yards per carry.
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"You come into the game and Kentucky had one of the most prolific run games that we had faced up until that point," Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. "(Davis) was averaging almost 6 yards a carry. We really just put a big emphasis on trying to create a new line of scrimmage, trying to play more vertical, trying to force them to make jump cuts prior to what they were."
Few teams have found the formula to establish the run on Tennessee, but the Vols will be up against one of its toughest challenges to date on Saturday against Missouri (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
The Tigers' backfield is headlined by 5-foot-9, 214 pound running back Cody Schrader, who averages 5.7 yards per carry and has 919 yards and 10 touchdowns on 162 carries this season, which leads the conference.
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Schrader has rushed for 100 or more yards in five games, including 112 yards and a touchdown against Georgia, which ranks one spot behind Tennessee in stopping the run.
Garner sees similarities in Schrader and Davis' game, which bodes well for Tennessee since it had success in stopping Davis, but where Garner finds a difference is in physicality, which he gives Schrader the edge.
"They're very similar, but (Schrader) may just be a tad more physical where the guy at Kentucky was faster," Garner said. "I think they both do a really good job of pressing the blocks and just finding the soft spot, just squaring up the shoulders and getting downhill. We've got to do a great job of playing vertical, creating knock backs and be able to tear up blocks.
"We've got to keep our pads square. We've got to tackle. We can't miss tackles. All the little things are what it comes down to playing in this conference. Just play a great, sound, fundamental game."
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