Secondary
Injuries have hurt this group, without question. They’ve had to plug-and-shift, and mix-and-match all season which has lead to miscommunications and breakdowns. Tennessee is holding opposing passers to an SEC-best 50.9% completion rate. The problem for Tennessee’s secondary hasn’t been quantity of completions given up, but rather the quality. Tennessee is 13th in the league in passing yardage against per game, surrendering 248.5 yards per game through the air and nearly 14 yards per completion. The Vols have only forced four interceptions on the season, and have routinely been beaten over the top by nearly every quarterback they’ve faced. They’ve come up short on critical third and fourth downs, and have allowed too many big plays. This will need to improve over the second half of the season.
Grades:
Daniel: D+
Houston: D
Reed: D
Average Grade: D
