Photos: Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee’s week one is in the books. Every week we will break down what went right, what went wrong, and what it means next. Let’s get into it.
THE GOOD
It is hard to sit here and say you got real answers after a game against an FCS opponent. What you did get were clues.
Faizon Brandon’s debut was one of them. If he had looked lost against that level of competition, you could have started penciling in a year of growing pains at quarterback. He did not. He looked in control and accurate, which is what you wanted to see. He finished 13 of 17 for 226 yards, 3 passing touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He added 68 yards and 2 scores on the ground. That is 5 total touchdowns in a first start. He became the first freshman to post 3 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns in a debut since Cam Newton. That does not make him a finished product. It does mean the potential is there to win a lot of games, and that Tennessee may have a competent quarterback as a freshman. Time will tell if he is more than that.
The defensive line is trending the same direction. They did what you expect a good front to do against this opponent. They lived in the backfield. Xavier Gilliam had the camp buzz and looked like he will be a problem inside. Tyree Weathersby opened the game with a sack. The promising part is that the sacks and pressures came from the line itself. Tennessee did not need exotic blitzes to get home. I get that it was Furman. I would still rather be defending that unit than sitting here wondering why they were only okay against an FCS team. That group was the best unit on the field.
The last thing I liked was how they shortened the game. I have not seen Heupel do that much against a team like this. Make no mistake, the scoreboard could have looked however Tennessee wanted it to look. Instead it looked like they ran two drives all game the way we are used to seeing this offense. The first drive of the game and the first drive of the second half. Both ended in quick touchdowns. Then they sat on the ball. That got them out of a payday game quicker and with fewer injuries on the field.
THE BAD
This is not something I thought I would be typing this morning. That offensive line looked like a disaster.
When you stack the roster, that unit was supposed to be near the top. They return experience. They return SEC starts. Yesterday they looked like a brand new line that has not figured it out yet. If you cannot get push against Furman, that is an embarrassing look.
Joshua Stoneking had way too many wins against the tackles. He is a good player. We wrote about the damage he could do. He is still an FCS All American. Tennessee will see better edge rushers almost every week from here on out. That is the part that looks troubling. The line looked tired and disinterested out of the gate. There were no holes for the backs in the first quarter and that forced Brandon to run it more than you wanted. They rotated a lot of bodies but it was still Furman. A team beat at birth. That unit should drive them off the ball at will. It did not. We better not see that again or it is going to be a long year.
It is hard to nitpick the defense because the starters were good at every level. The thing I was watching before the game, and I am still watching after it, is how a Jim Knowles defense opens up when a quarterback starts scrambling. Furman converted a few third downs with the quarterback running into a wide open middle of the field. They did not burn Tennessee with it. Better teams will. Nico Iamaleava and UCLA got Knowles at Penn State doing the same thing. Nico ran wild. Furman could not take advantage. Georgia Tech can. That has to get cleaned up.
MOVING FORWARD
Georgia Tech is not Furman. That is the whole next week in one sentence.
Brandon does not need another 5 touchdown night in Atlanta. He needs the same command with a defense that will actually tackle in space. The freshman part of this is no longer a mystery box. The question now is whether the offense can protect him when the other side has athletes.
That starts with the tackles. David Sanders Jr. and whoever wins that right side cannot have Stoneking tape follow them into Bobby Dodd. If the edge keeps winning, the run game stays jammed and Brandon becomes a runner because he has to, not because the play is designed that way. Tech will take that trade.
The defensive line earned the right to be trusted for seven days. The rest of Knowles’ defense did not get stress tested. The scramble rules will. Georgia Tech will move the pocket and try to make that middle of the field look like a track meet. If Tennessee takes that away, the front can keep feasting. If they don’t, week one starts looking like a mirage.
The good news is the Vols got out of Neyland with a win, a healthy enough roster, and a quarterback who looked like he belonged. The bad news is the first real measuring stick is already here. Atlanta will tell us which half of this tape was the truth.