Defensive Line
Daniel: Owen Williams had a stretch in the second half where he was almost unblockable. That’s a fantastic sign for this group. Danny O’Brien and Jordan Williams continue to be solid in the middle – though it will be interesting to see how they hold up against some of the more powerful teams upcoming on the schedule. The ends were a little quieter tonight. Fredi Knighten did break contain a few times, though, in UT’s defense, the Vols might not see a quarterback with as much pure speed as him the rest of the season. Grade: B
Houston: This group did a good job of stopping the run up the middle today but lost quarterback contain on several occasions, leading to big plays by Arkansas State. Owen Williams’ performance will help bring this group’s grade up, as the junior was able to record two sacks and five tackles – most coming in the second half when Tennessee needed them the most. Tennessee played a lot of 3-3-5 defense in an attempt to get more speed on the field, which sometimes made the defensive linemen less effective. ASU running back Michael Gordon averaged only 2.4 yards per carry on seven carries. Grade: B+
Reed: The Vols defensive ends struggled to contain Knighten and the Arkansas State rushing attack at times and allowed far too many outside runs. Even with those few busts, Arkansas State averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Owen Williams had a big day in the middle and made about four straight big plays in the third quarter – even catching Knighten from behind and pushing him out of bounds. The pass rush wasn’t quite as effective as last week, even though this unit posted two sacks and three QB hurries. Grade: B+
