Biggest Team 118 Surprise
Daniel: Overall defense. We knew this defense had pieces. A.J. Johnson, Curt Maggitt, Cam Sutton and Brian Randolph had all played at a high level in the past. But there still were a ton of questions. What would the revamped line look like? Who else could step up at linebacker? Who were the missing links in the secondary? And while this still isn’t a finished product, it’s undeniable that the defense – despite sometimes defending shorts fields and not always getting a lot of time to rest and adjust on the sidelines – has stepped up this year. Take out points scored by the opposing defense and the Vols’ defense has allowed just 16.8 points per game to opponents. That number could easily be adjusted more if the times where opposing offenses started in field-goal range were accounted for as well. That’s getting the job done.
Houston: Secondary. Yes, the entire defense is vastly improved, but I think a lot of that has to do with how well the secondary has played so far. I’ve already talked about how well Cam Sutton has playes, but I think Mike Williams has also put a solid first-half of the season together at the other corner spot as well. Justin Coleman is much-improved this after after moving from outside corner to nickleback and gives Tennessee a bigger body closer to the line of scrimmage to help out in run support. Tennessee’s three-headed monster at safety has also looked very strong. Mixing and matching Brian Randolph with LaDarrell McNeil and Todd Kelly Jr. depending on the look they get from the offense has worked out very favorably for the Vols this year and should only improve over the second half of the season. To this point, only Trevor Knight and Fredi Knighten have passed for more that 150 yards against the Vols. Last year, through six games, four opposing quarterbacks had thrown for more than 150 against the Vol secondary.
Reed: Defense. I knew Tennessee’s defense would be better this season, but not this much better. They’re allowing 10 fewer points and 100 fewer yards per game than they did last year. That’s a massive leap in the right direction. They lead the SEC in 3rd down defense, rank 4th in total defense and 1st in tackles for loss (they were 12th last year). They’re swarming to the ball, making a ton of impact plays and forcing turnovers. You have to credit defensive coordinator John Jancek for getting Tennessee’s young talent ready to play. This unit should be ever better next year with most of its impact players returning and another influx of talent coming in the 2015 class.
