Seventeenth-ranked Tennessee football welcomes the UConn Huskies to Knoxville this weekend for their homecoming matchup in Neyland Stadium.
The upcoming battle with the 1-7 Huskies will serve as a tune-up for the 6-2 Vols ahead of two big games against No. 17 Missouri on the road and No. 2 Georgia at home.
In this week’s tale of the tape, Tennessee will have the edge at every position group. The Vols are simply more talented than UConn at every position. They’re supposed to be. They’re an SEC school.
However, this tale of the tape can still be used to see which players on the Huskies to watch out for this weekend.
Let’s see how the Vols stack up against UConn.
Quarterback
Tennessee: Joe Milton III
Season stats (8 games):
157 completions on 243 attempts, 1,762 yards, 13 TD, 4 INT, 64.61 comp. %, 220.25 YPG, 11.22 yards per completion
57 rushes, 361 yards, 4 TD, 32.25 yards per game
Where Milton ranks in the SEC:
- 7th in yards
- 6th in completions, 4th in attempts
- 8th in comp. %
- 13th in yards per pass attempt (66th in FBS) (7.23)
- T-5th in TD (13)
- T-3rd in INT (4)
- 9th in QBR (139.75)
UConn: Ta’Quan Roberson
Season stats (7 games):
115 completions on 199 attempts, 1,275 yards, 8 TD, 3 INT, 57.79 comp. %, 182.14 YPG, 11.09 yards per completion
Advantage: Tennessee
Explanation: As with every position, Tennessee gets the edge here. UConn’s strength of the offense also doesn’t lie in the passing game. They’re a run-first team and have a dangerous pair of running backs.
Running Back
Tennessee: Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small, Dylan Sampson
Tennessee rushing stats (8 games):
- 1st in SEC with 1,774 rushing yards
- 1st in SEC with 221.75 yards per game
- 2nd in SEC with 5.53 yards per attempt
- 15 rush TD (6th in SEC)
- Wright: 102 att., 713 yards, 2 TD, 7.0 YPC, 89.13 YPG (1st in SEC and 9th in FBS in YPC, 4th in SEC in YPG)
- Wright receiving: 18 rec., 104 yards, 0 TD, 13.00 YPG (leads all SEC RBs in catches)
- Small: 82 att., 415 yards, 2 TD, 5.1 YPC, 51.88 YPG
- Sampson: 66 att., 377 yards, 7 TD, 5.7 YPC (9th in SEC), 53.86 YPG
- Sampson receiving: 12 rec., 137 yards, 1 TD, 11.42 yds per catch, 19.57 YPG
UConn: Victor Rosa and Cam Edwards
UConn rushing stats:
- Rosa (7 games): 78 att., 405 yards, 2 TD, 5.2 yards per carry, 57.86 YPG
- Edwards (5 games): 71 att., 362 yards, 2 TD, 5.1 YPC, 72.4 YPG
Advantage: Tennessee
Explanation: UConn is strong at running back for a lower-level FBS program this year, but they’re no Tennessee. The Vols have a three-headed monster that showed once again last week that it is the best in the SEC. Specifically the duo of Jaylen Wright and Dylan Sampson is among the best RB duos in the nation.
Pass Catchers
Tennessee: WRs Squirrel White, Ramel Keyton, Dont’e Thornton, TEs Jacob Warren, McCallan Castles
Tennessee stats (8 games):
- White: 43 rec., 462 yards, 1 TD, 10.74 yards per reception, 57.75 YPG
- Keyton: 22 rec., 331 yards, 3 TD, 15.05 yards per reception, 41.38 YPG
- Castles: 11 rec., 136 yards, 2 TD, 12.36 yards per reception, 17.00 YPG
- Thornton: 10 rec., 152 yards, 0 TD, 15.20 yards per reception, 21.71 YPG
- Warren: 9 rec., 75 yards, 3 TD, 8.33 yards per reception, 9.38 YPG
UConn: WRs Cameron Ross, Brett Buckman, Geordon Porter, TE Justin Joly
UConn stats (8 games):
- Ross 31 rec., 338 yards, 1 TD, 10.90 yards per reception, 42.25 YPG
- Buckman: 31 rec., 335 yards, 1 TD, 10.81 yards per reception, 41.88 YPG
- Joly: 26 rec., 319 yards, 1 TD, 12.27 yards per reception, 39.88 YPG
- Porter: 13 rec., 148 yards, 1 TD, 11.38 yards per reception, 18.50 YPG
Advantage: Tennessee
Explanation: Tennessee’s wide receiver corps is on the upswing. Squirrel White has been playing really well and Dont’e Thornton has emerged as of last week as a top option while being split out wide. Will that continue? No one has any reason to believe it won’t. Let’s see if Heupel can find a way to keep finding ways to get the explosive Thornton the ball.
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Offensive Line
Tennessee stats (7 games):
- Joe Milton sacked 13 times (8th-worst in the SEC)
- Tennessee has given up 14 total sacks as a team
UConn stats (8 games):
- UConn does a good job of keeping Robinson’s jersey clean, ranking tied for 15th-best in the FBS in terms of sacks allowed with 9/1.12 per game.
Advantage: Tennessee
Defensive Line
Tennessee stats (8 games):
- 29 sacks (4th in SEC & 6th in FBS)
- 3.62 sacks per game (3rd in SEC, 6th in FBS)
- 61 TFL (3rd in SEC, T-12th in FBS)
- 7.6 TFL per game (3rd in SEC, T-11th in FBS)
UConn stats (8 games):
- 11 sacks (T-109th in FBS)
- 1.38 sacks per game (T-114th FBS)
- 46 TFL (T-67th in FBS)
- 5.8 TFL per game (T-64th in FBS)
Notable player stats:
Tennessee:
- LEO James Pearce Jr.: 7 sacks, 10 TFL, 13 QB hits, 1 FF
- DE Tyler Baron: 5 sacks, 6 TFL, 4 QB hits
Advantage: Tennessee
Linebackers
Tennessee: Aaron Beasley, Elijah Herring, Arion Carter
Tennessee stats (8 games):
- Beasley: 48 tackles (26 solo), 2 sacks, 8.5 TFL, 3 PBU, 1 QBH
- Herring: 51 tackles (18 solo), 2 TFL, 1 QBH
- Carter: 17 tackles (8 solo), 1 TFL, 1 PBU
Kentucky: Jackson Mitchell, Tui Faumuina-Brown, Noah Plack
UConn stats (8 games):
- Faumuina-Brown: 47 tackles, 1 sack, 3 TFLs, 1 INT
- Mitchell: 81 tackles, 1 sack, 4.5 TFLs, 1 INT, 1 PBU, 4 QB hits, 1 FR
- Plack: 40 tackles, 0.5 sacks, 4.5 TFL, 1 QBH
Advantage: Tennessee
Secondary
Notable player stats:
Tennessee:
- S Wesley Walker: 41 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 PBU, 1 FF
- STAR Tamarion McDonald: 35 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 1 INT, 4 PBU
- CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally: 26 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 INT, 3 PBU
UConn:
- DB Durante Jones: 51 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 PBU
- DB Malik Dixon-Williams: 26 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PBU, 1 FF
- DB Chris Shearin: 24 tackles, 2 INT, 2 PBU
Advantage: Tennessee
Special Teams
Tennessee: PR & KR Dee Williams
Tennessee stats (8 games):
- Williams punt returns: 11 returns, 195 yards, 17.73 AVG, 1 TD, 55 long
- Williams kick returns: 6 returns, 128 yards, 21.33 AVG, 34 long
Kentucky: KRs Bryan Domino, Brian Brewton
Kentucky stats (7 games):
- Domino: 12 KR, 237 yards, 19.75 AVG, 27 long
- Brewton: 5 KR, 106 yards, 21.2 AVG, 29 long
Advantage: Tennessee
