IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTT’SSSSSSSSSS MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!
And it’s a fine, victory Monday for your Tennessee Volunteers after absolutely blasting the Wolfpack off the field. Those always feel great.
So let’s put on those bathing caps, walk to the edge of the platform, and swan dive into the orange and while pool of Tennessee Vols-related thoughts sloshing around inside my noggin.
1) Yes. Yes. Believe it or not, I hear you. You don’t need to hammer those keyboards over it. I get it: it’s still VERY early in the season. So, if you want to point that out, believe me, I know it is. No need to drive that point home in the comments.
2) But, with that being said, this Tennessee Vols team feels different that other years that ended in anything other than a major bowl game. It’s one that has something they have lacked in most seasons over the past several years: physicality at the point of attack, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
I harped on it yesterday, but this defensive line just has some dawgs on it. They were ALL over the NC State backfield for the entire game, from the first quarter all the way to the end. 13 tackles for loss. Grayson McCall completed 15 of 22 passes for just 104 yards. After the first drive, he really had a hard time getting anything going because the rush was coming too quickly for the Pack to get anything going down the field.
The game was just being played in the Pack’s backfield, which is what you see happen with top teams. Georgia is always dictating the line of scrimmage and swarming ballcarrier in the backfield. Alabama did it year after year under Saban. That’s what you see from great defenses. Have to love what you saw from Tennessee on Saturday.
3) As far as the passing game, what stuck out to me was the involvement of the tight ends. The Vols appear to have a heck of a trio in Ethan Davis, Miles Kitselman, and Holden Staes. This is the second straight week that Nico has thrown touchdowns to tight ends. In fact, both passing touchdowns went to the tight ends. Given the hype of the WR room coming into the season (and rightly so with their talent), that’s pretty incredible. Two-tight end sets could become a real weapon for UT in SEC play this year.
4) Dylan Sampson is a just a dude, man. Tennessee has a good stable of backs, but Sampson has another gear to him. How he ran around that NC State defender and up the sideline for the score dropped my jaw the ground. An NFL-caliber run there. I love seeing DeSean Bishop with the ball in his hands. I love seeing Khalifa Keith truck dudes over. I want to see the elite speed of Peyton Lewis on display. But Sampson looks like a true difference maker at the position.
5) Another play that stuck out to me was Jermod McCoy’s fourth down tackle of NC State TE Justin Joly.
Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy made a heck of a play in the fourth quarter of a blowout game against Justin Joly (who is probably a future NFL TE) pic.twitter.com/o8TgNTrEey
— zach ragan (@zachTNT) September 9, 2024
In the fourth quarter, with the Vols up big, McCoy had to bring down Joly in the open field. He wrapped him up and brought him down well short. When Joly caught it, I remember thinking, crap, that’s gonna be a first. And it turned out it wasn’t. A great individual effort that really, to me, embodied the physical nature of this defense that we’ve seen through two games this season.
Looking forward to a tune up on Saturday against Kent State before a big test at OU the next week.
Go Vols!