Tennessee football dropped its first game of the season on Saturday night, falling 19-14 at Arkansas in a defensive battle. The Vols’ offense couldn’t find any consistent success while their defense played well but didn’t turn in one of their best performances either.
Here’s a look at the Tennessee football stock report following its loss at Arkansas.
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Stock Up
Red Zone Offense
It was an abysmal game for Tennessee’s offense but the one area they performed well was in the red zone. The Vols had just two trips to the red zone all game and scored touchdowns on both. If they had won the game, that would have been a major reason why they survived.
Now, the Vols’ red zone success came from just running the ball. If Tennessee’s red zone offense is going to take another step forward than they’ll have to pass it better. But that goes for Tennessee’s entire offense.
James Pearce Jr
Tennessee’s star edge rusher finally had his most impactful game of the season against the Razorbacks. He recorded 0.5 sack, five quarterback hurries and five tackles in the loss.
Pearce still missed more tackles than you’d want to see, but he was very disruptive for the first time all season.
Stock Holding
Run Defense
Tennessee’s defense looked mortal for the first time all season against Arkansas but they still played well. Its run defense was still very effective, allowing 134 yards on 44 carries— a measly three yards per carry.
Arkansas totaled 46 yards on three carries on its go-ahead touchdown drive, including an 11-yard play where Tennessee let them score.
For most of the game, Arkansas was unable to create any consistent success on the ground as the Vols’ run defense continues to look stout.
Stock Down
Passing Offense
I know what you’re thinking, Tennessee lost as two touchdown favorites and there’s only one more stock trending down than up? Fair.
But here’s the thing. Tennessee’s quarterback play, offensive line play and receiver play was all bad against Arkansas. The stock is down for all of them. Instead of separating them into three different parts, I decided to include them in one section.
Every single aspect of the passing game was putrid against Arkansas. Nico Iamaleava was inaccurate at times and was hesitant to let it rip on contested throws. And Iamaleava was going to have to make contested throws because Tennessee’s receivers simply could not get open.
There were very few times in the loss where Tennessee had receivers running open and Iamaleava just missed them. My fear about Tennessee’s receiving core all offseason was that they didn’t have any true difference makers. I’ve never been more confident of that.
Then the offensive line, particularly offensive tackles John Campbell and Lance Heard, struggled badly in pass protection. They were horrific in the first half, where Iamaleava was sacked three times, before being better but not great in the second half.
Tennessee’s passing offense is a real problem right now. Its stock is plummeting. How much they can improve will likely decide how far this Vols’ team goes.
Passing Defense
Tennessee’s passing defense was a question all offseason and the Vols’ first four opponents did little to test it. Arkansas had the capability to test it and they had success through the air.
Now, Taylen Green didn’t torch Tennessee but he did complete 70% of his pass for 266 yards. There were a number of easy completions short and over the middle but he also hit some contested deep balls. That is the positive, Green made some really big time throws when there was good coverage down the field.
Tennessee’s secondary looked vulnerable but they also didn’t look terrible so while the stock is down after its hot start, it shouldn’t be overly surprising.
Punt Return Unit
The margins are small in tight college football games. If it weren’t for two punt return blunders thank I think Tennessee beats Arkansas despite its poor performance.
First, Jordan Ross ran into the punter which moved the sticks for Arkansas on third down and led to a second half field goal.
Secondly, Squirrel White failed to catch a punt in the fourth quarter and instead let it bounce and roll 20 yards. After the Vols went three-and-out, Arkansas got the ball back with 28 yards better field position than when they punted.
