Offensive Line
Nathanael: A
This was probably the best Tennessee’s offensive line has played since 2016. They still made mistakes and weren’t perfect, but I’m going to be a little lenient on them and give them an “A” here. They helped UT put up almost 200 rushing yards against an SEC opponent, kept the quarterbacks clean (except for one sack allowed), and were consistently getting push and winning against Mississippi State’s front seven. There weren’t a bunch of “uh oh” plays by the O-line in this game, which is a far cry from where they were earlier this season, last year, and in 2017. This was their best showing of the year by far.
Ben: B+
Tennessee’s offensive line was really good led by Trey Smith. The junior is getting back to the mean, nasty player that continually puts defenders on their butts. As a whole, the O-line allowed just one sack and had a great day in pass protection. Jordan averaged just 3.1 yards a carry and Chandler only averaged 3.9, so it would have been nice to have more chunk plays in the running game, but it was still a really good day.
