Secondary
Nathanael: C+
Saturday was a weird day for Tennessee’s secondary. The Vols’ defensive backs undoubtedly made some big plays, but they also gave up some big plays of their own and allowed 322 yards passing. Missed tackles were still an issue for UT’s team overall, but secondary players made some obvious gaffes in that regard. True freshmen Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson came up with two of the biggest plays for UT’s defense on Saturday with Taylor recovering a fumble for a score and Thompson picking off a pass that would end up helping Tennessee’s offense score a touchdown on the ensuing possession. Nigel Warrior had a couple bad plays, but he also had a very impressive open-field tackle for loss too. Baylen Buchanan played at nickel and finished with seven tackles, and Shawn Shamburger earned the start over Micah Abernathy and finished with three tackles and a pass break up.
Ben: C
Aside from Alontae Taylor’s seven tackles and fumble recovery for a touchdown, and Bryce Thompson’s interception, the secondary had a long day. Stidham threw for 322 yards and on some of this completions, the wide receiver was fairly open. From a Tennessee standpoint, the most disappointing play was on the 76-yard passing touchdown to Anthony Schwartz. Thompson missed a tackle, and then Baylen Buchanan and Theo Jackson took poor angles to try to cut him off. The secondary was much stronger against the run than it was in coverage.
