The Offensive Line
On the offensive side of the ball, Tennessee was efficient despite two turnovers. Quinten Dormady looked sharp, cleaning up a lot of the mechanical errors we saw a week ago against Georgia Tech.
But the Vols offensive line was dominant. And they should be against an FCS team.
UT's first TD is thanks in large part to Jakob Johnson. He makes an excellent block coming from the right side of the line. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/qAyNANdNvB
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 11, 2017
Backup tight end Jakob Johnson has turned into a very good run blocker. On this play, he lines up originally on the right side of the line of scrimmage right behind Brett Kendrick. UT runs an inside zone split, which means that Johnson will run across the offensive line to block the rusher coming from the weak side.
And he executes perfectly, allowing Carlin Fils-aime to get past the first level of defenders and rumble his way into the endzone.
Running theme — Fils-aime may be the most underrated player on this offense. He needs touches moving forward, because he can go around and through defenders.
Here’s another example.
Venzell Boulware pulls to the outside and Jashon Robertson makes a key block downfield. Fils-aime does the rest. #RTIFilmStudy pic.twitter.com/BAA2fhIjf8
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 11, 2017
This is another example of textbook blocking executed to perfection. The left guard Venzell Boulware pulls to the outside and makes a key block in the backfield. Jashon Robertson also pulls around left tackle and gets to the second level, which springs Fils-aime.
But the sophomore running back still had some work to do. You have to give a lot of credit to the speedy Fils-aime for not getting caught here. When he gets a few blocks, Fils-aime has shown the breakaway speed in the secondary that the Vols needs more of.
