Offensive Line
Nathanael: C-
You know, for an offensive line that is dealing with injuries and just got dealt the awful news about Trey Smith just a couple days before this game kicked off, I thought they performed fairly well. It still wasn’t what the offense needed to succeed, but the offensive line was okay when it came to run blocking and wasn’t as bad in pass blocking this time either. But part of that has to do with the opponent, and South Carolina had struggled all season with a pass rush. They were 13th in the SEC with just 10 sacks heading into Saturday’s contest, so I think part of the line’s improved play could be because of the Gamecocks’ front seven not being up to par. One thing that was unacceptable from this unit was the number of pre-snap penalties they committed. Tennessee’s line had five pre-snap infractions, and four of them came on third and fourth down plays. That inexcusable, and it’s a big part of the reason the Vols lost.
Ben: C
The offensive line’s performance against South Carolina was their best of the year. They weren’t lights out, but they weren’t the reason the offense stalled out like they normally are. Without Trey Smith, I expected the offensive line to take a major step back. They didn’t as Riley Locklear, Nathan Niehaus and Marcus Tatum stepped up and helped soften the blow. The big uglies opened up holes in the running game and provided Jarrett Guarantano with just enough time to get rid of the ball on most plays. My biggest gripe with the o-line was the amount of pre-snap penalties. Those can’t happen and as a result, it was one of the reasons Tennessee lost.
