Defensive Line
Daniel: It’s hard to ask much more of the defensive line. It was LB Chris Weatherd who had the only sack of the game, though Derek Barnett was in there helping out as well. But the Mocs aren’t a drop-back passing team. They run and hit short passes and the defensive front did all it could to contain that. UTC barely passed the 100-yard rushing mark and probably wouldn’t have if the starters were in the whole game. Barnett hopped on a fumbled exchange by UTC to set up UT’s second touchdown. Maybe you’d like to see one or two more big plays from this group, but I can’t find anything too serious to critique. Grade: A-
Houston: In facing a very unique and somewhat challenging scheme, I believe this group played about as well as you could have asked them to. Derek Barnett showed, once again, that he will be an absolute force for the Vols in the coming years. Barnett didn’t fill the stat-sheet, but he did a great job of stretching out Moc runs and playing disciplined football which limited a lot of the creative looks that Chattanooga likes to show. The Vols are playing very well along the defensive front right now and they were able to get a lot of guys some reps and in-game experience in this one. I thought that LaTroy Lewis and Dewayne Hendrix did some nice things in the second half when they got their opportunity. Grade: A
Reed: This group, more than any, bottled up Chattanooga’s offense and made sure their ground game never got going. They consistently got into UTC’s backfield and either disrupted plays or opened things up for UT’s linebackers. Derek Barnett led the way with three tackles and a fumble recovery. Several young Vol linemen saw significant snaps as well. They didn’t many many highlight worthy plays, but they played assignment football and kept a balanced Moc offense in check. Grade: B
