Former Alabama coach turned College GameDay host Nick Saban has been impressed with Tennessee’s ability on the defensive side of the football through four games this season.
As a former defensive assistant coach and a proclaimed guru on that side of the ball, Saban’s words carry more weight than some other analysts when talking about that area. That’s why his latest comments on Tennessee have some taking note online.
During a guest appearance on Friday’s episode of The Pat McAfee Show, Saban was asked about Tennessee’s defense coming out of their 25-15 win over Oklahoma in Norman last Saturday night.
“I think Tennessee’s defense is probably one of the most underrated units in college football,” Saban said on the show. “You talk about the offense, we talk about Nico [Iamaleava], we talk about all that stuff, fastball. But their defense is the real deal.”
In their first true test of the season (we’ve said that before but it seems everyone is rethinking the NC State drubbing), Tennessee’s defense passed with flying colors. Aside from two late touchdowns in the final nine minutes of the game, Tennessee’s defense suffocated Oklahoma’s offense throughout the night. The Vols were led by a ferocious pass rush that rattled Oklahoma quarterback Jackson Arnold so much that he was benched before halftime.
“They played really well in their last game,” Nick Saban continued on to say. “I think the good thing about having a defense, people say it all the time, defense travels. Even when you’re playing on the road, you can play good on defense. It might affect the offense but the defense will always play well. I think Tennessee’s defense was outstanding. I think Oklahoma’s defense is outstanding. I just think that Tennessee has a little more balance because they’re a pretty good offensive team as well.”
“I think Tennessee has one of the most underrated defensive units in College Football..
Their defense is the real deal and defense always travels” ~ Coach Saban #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/KkHW1UEhRZ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) September 27, 2024
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Tennessee will need that defense to continue traveling with three more road games on the schedule. The Vols will head to Fayetteville, AR, after the open date for a game against Arkansas but will then have a four-game home stretch with a bye week before their matchup with No. 2 Georgia in Athens on November 16. Tennessee will close the regular season in Nashville against Vanderbilt on November 30.
Despite Tennessee having the No. 1 defensive unit in college football statistically, Saban’s point about the Vols’ defense being underrated still makes sense when looking at other storylines. Take a segment from The Herd on Fox Sports this week, for example. Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt said that Tennessee has championship-caliber material but he’s hesitant to project them as a National Champion because of their composite team rating (how many high-level prospects make up a team’s current roster). Tennessee has the No. 17 composite roster across college football this season, which is enough to cool Tennessee off for some analysts.
But preseason overarching rankings aren’t everything, and that’s where the underrated part rings true. Tennessee just defeated Oklahoma, who has the No. 8 composite roster in college football this season. The Vols also have a higher AP ranking than 12 of the teams in front of them in the composite rankings: Clemson, Oregon, Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Penn State, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Southern Cal, and Michigan. It would be hard to believe that Tennessee wouldn’t be favored against most of those programs in a neutral site game tomorrow.
