Defensive Line
Daniel: This group was the weakest part of the defense on Saturday, in my opinion. It got very little pressure on Hutson Mason in drop-back situations and didn’t have a lot of disruptive plays. Derek Barnett was active with eight tackles, but that was about it. Like the rest of the defense, it did a fairly good job keeping the Georgia rushing attack bottled up early before giving up some big ones late. It wasn’t a bad game per se, I just didn’t think this group played at an incredibly high level. Grade: C
Houston: This group had a good day, and you can see that the talent is there, but they just don’t have the experience necessary to dominate an SEC game on the road yet. I thought that they had a steady day but lacked the playmaking ability that they had previously shown in the season. Georgia’s offensive line is a nice blend of size and athleticism, so this wasn’t exactly a surprise, and they were able to occupy the linemen enough to allow the linebackers to roam free and make more plays than normal. Not as bad of a day by this group as the stat sheet may indicate. Grade: B
Reed: Tennessee’s defensive line underachieved Saturday. They weren’t able to get consistent pressure on Hutson Mason and they struggled to plug running lanes. They made a few plays here and there, but overall it was their least impressive effort of the year. I expected their athleticism to give the Georgia OL more issues. Not a terrible performance, but they didn’t make as many impact plays as the Vols needed. Grade: C
