Tennessee’s defense has been the backbone of the Volunteers’ team this season.
With the offense struggling at times this season, Tennessee hasn’t been out of a game all year because of the way its defense has kept them in contention.
According to CBS Sports HQ’s Todd Fuhrman on Tuesday, Tennessee is the only FBS team to give up less than 20 points in every game this season. While teams like Oklahoma and NC State have proven to be offensively hindered this season, the Vols held Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama to sub-20 points despite talented quarterbacks such as Taylen Green, DJ Lagway, Graham Mertz, and Jalen Milroe leading the opposing charge.
Fuhrman also presented Tennessee with a National Champion comparison with his stat on Tuesday. According to Fuhrman, Tennessee is the fifth SEC team since 2000 to hold each of its first seven opponents to under 20 points.
The previous four all won the National Championship: 2003 LSU, 2011 Alabama, 2012 Alabama, and 2021 Georgia.
There’s a bevy of additional factors that go into contention for the national championship but as the saying goes, defense wins championships. And while the Vols’ offense certainly has room to improve, Tennessee’s defense is playing at a championship-level – both in the eye-test and in historical comparisons.
Tennessee is the only FBS team to allow under 20 pts in every game this season.
They’re the 5th SEC team since 2000 to hold each of its 1st 7 opponents under 20.
The previous 4? They all won the National Title (2003 LSU, 2011 Bama, 2012 Bama, 2021 UGA) @3HL1045 @TheRonSlay
— Todd Fuhrman (@ToddFuhrman) October 29, 2024
More from RTI: A Deep Dive Tennessee Football’s Path To The College Football Playoff
There’s another stat that came out on Tuesday that highlights just how good Tennessee has been but in a slightly different direction from just the scoring aspect.
According to ESPN, stop rate is “a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers, or a turnover on downs.”
Entering Week 10 of the college football season, Tennessee leads the country in stop rate at 81.3 percent and 0.90 points per drive, both the highest in the country.
Tennessee tops out Texas in the top spot, as the Longhorns post an 80.2 percent stop rate and also allow 0.90 points per drive.
“Tennessee moved into the No. 1 spot in the stop rate standings ahead of Texas and Ohio State after the latter two had close wins Saturday,” ESPN’s Max Olsen wrote on Tuesday. “The Vols are coming off their bye week and have a stop rate of 81.3% on the year. They’re the only defense in FBS that has held every opponent under 20 points. Last season, Tennessee finished No. 28 in stop rate at 68.6%.”
Need another National Champion comparison?
Last year’s Michigan squad finished No. 1 in stop rate at 81.6 percent in its games against FBS opponents.
“The top 25 teams in the final 2023 stop rate standings won a total of 249 games, with seven earning conference titles,” Olsen wrote. “Great teams find a way to get stops in critical situations.”
Tennessee’s defense is playing at a championship level. It’ll be up to them to continue building on their first seven performances while the offense continues to grease the gears in hopes of getting the offensive engine to run in overdrive in the final stretch of the season.
It all starts on Saturday, though.
No. 7 Tennessee will host SEC rival Kentucky at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium. The Wildcats defense currently ranks No. 50 in stop rate at 65.8 percent and 1.77 points per drive, according to ESPN.
