10 things I think I think -- Tennessee vs. Florida edition
Tennessee is the focus of nearly all the college football world this weekend as the Vols host Florida. Tennessee is looking for their first win in the series since 2016 and just their second in eighteen tries. What’s key and what are the major storylines? We empty the notebook in our weekly installment of 10 Things I Think I Think.
1. Hendon Hooker has to go
On3’s Ivan Maisel spoke about how this game could be Hendon Hooker’s coming out party. I would contend Hooker is already pretty well known, but the senior is definitely on the biggest stage of his career with his biggest opportunity to date.
Tennessee needs Hooker to shine. He has to take care of the ball. He has to make plays with both his arm and his legs. With running backs dealing with injuries and Cedric Tillman unlikely to play, every thing falls on Hooker to deliver.
The Vols are clearly better and more experienced at the quarterback position and Tennessee has to use that to their advantage which means Hendon Hooker has to have a day.
2. No laundry
Josh Heupel’s team simply needs to be more disciplined. They can’t have a double digit penalty number and they can’t pile up a 100 yards in penalties either. Simply put, they have to clean things up.
“(They were) self-inflicted in all three phases of the game the last couple of weeks. We’ve got to play cleaner in this one,” Heupel said this week. “The hidden yardage will matter. It changes the way the third and fourth downs are played. Pre-snap penalties, you can’t have them. We can’t have a penalty on special teams when the ball is exchanging sides. As much as anything we’ve got to play smart and be composed like I was talking about earlier.”
In four of Tennessee’s six losses last year, the Vols had double digits in penalties: Pitt (13 for 134 yards) Florida (10-85) Alabama (12-98) Purdue (14-128).
This year against Pitt they had 70 yards worth of penalties and last week against Akron,the Vols were flagged 11 times for 118 years.
Tennessee must be more disciplined this week against the Gators.
3. Crowd must win
I don’t really have any doubt about this one, because I expect the sellout crowd to be rowdy long before kickoff and stay that way for the entire afternoon/evening.
This is Florida’s first road game with a new coaching staff. Every staff has different road routines. This is Anthony Richardson’s first real road test as a starter. How does Florida’s quarterback handle it? The Tennessee crowd should make it hard for him to handle.
4. Nothing cheap
Tim Banks’ defense has been good through three games. Aside from two big plays at Pittsburgh they have made their opponents earn anything they have gotten and that must continue this week.
Florida has three scoring drives of nine plays or more. The Gator ground game has three runs this season of 20+ yards and they have six passing plays of 20 yards or more.
In contrast, Tennessee has 24 plays on offense of 20+ yards. Eleven of those have been pass plays of 30+ yards.
Banks’ defense has give up two runs of 20+ yards this season. That trend must continue. The defense can’t give Florida’s offense anything easy. Tennessee can’t give Florida a short field with turnovers or on special teams making life easier for the Gators.
They must make Florida go the long way.
5. Win first down
In the Pitt game when the Vols offense struggled, nearly half (44%) of their first down plays went for two yards or less, often leaving them in third and long.
Against Akron, the Vols had 18 first down snaps in the first half and had only three plays of two yards or less. One of those was a touchdown run from the two yard line. The result of first down success means tempo and yards which was a big part of why Tennessee put up nearly 700 yards of offense against the Zips. Tennessee must win early downs on offense to keep themselves out of 3rd and long situations.
Conversely, the defense has to win on first down in order to not let Anthony Richardson get comfortable and in order for head coach Billy Napier to not have his entire playbook on third down. Florida is clearly not at their best when they have to make skilled vertical throws which is why the Vols need to get the Gators in third and long which means they have to win early downs defensively.
6. Don’t let Richardson get comfortable
Richardson is a bit banged up and for the last two weeks he’s opted to run very little unlike the Utah game where rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries. Since that week one performance that had him on everyone’s watch list, Richardson has just 28 yards with his feet. Maybe he’s not healthy enough to run, but positive plays with his legs are what gets him going as a player. Tennessee can’t let him get going. A year ago the Vol defense had no answer for Matt Corral who ran for 195 yards in the Vols’ loss to Ole Miss. This season, Tim Banks’ defense hasn’t really seen a dual threat quarterback, but linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary noted they have prepared a lot for one.
“Obviously, I think (Anthony) Richardson kind of stands alone when it comes to athleticism as far as the quarterback position. I thought (DJ Irons) last week, when you watch him on tape, he came in as a dual-threat quarterback and actually had some positive runs versus Michigan State the previous week. We actually practiced a lot of quarterback run going into that game. We actually are bringing some of the same defenses that we ran in that previous game. We were able to rep them for Akron. Obviously, he did not run the ball a lot, whether it was due to injury or whatever. He was more in a drop back phase, didn’t pull the ball as much, but we were prepared for it. I just bring that up to say with the talent (Anthony) Richardson has, we actually feel like we’re a week ahead as far as actual quarterback running game. Obviously, he’s a different animal, but some of the defenses and some of the fits we’ve prepared for.”
7. Bru needs to have a day
I didn’t think McCoy had a great performance against Akron. He was penalized twice for offensive pass interference and he had just one catch for nine yards.
If Cedric Tillman is indeed out, which is what we all suspect, then McCoy must step up. McCoy’s talents are obvious and he showed them against Pitt in limited opportunities.
The opportunities should be a plenty this week especially if there is indeed no Tillman.
The question is how comfortable is McCoy and this staff with moving him around? We will find out as the Vols will definitely need someone to step up big time and the most talented guy to do that is Bru McCoy.
8. Defend the flat
Jean-Mary said he likes the way his linebackers have played in space through three games.
“As far as the linebackers and how they’ve played outside on the perimeter, I think we’ve done a good job. With offenses now and the spread, the way that it challenges you from sideline to sideline. All those guys are going to have to make plays outside the box. I think we’ve done a good job playing off blocks and tackling in space. Obviously, it’s never going to be perfect, but I think we like where we’re at right now.”
He also likes how his linebackers have improved in coverage.
“I think we have gotten better. Obviously, still not perfect. I feel like we left some plays out there especially in our zone concept. We had a chance to get our hands on some balls and maybe even take some the other way. In the Pitt game, we were actually in good coverage and actually got our hands on some balls and did not finish the play, so I think it’s still a work in progress. We are multiple, so we ask our linebackers to be in different spots on the field in our zone coverages. I think we are getting there, but we would just like to see the production increase, especially with the underneath coverage in our zones.”
That group is going to get tested sideline to sideline on Saturday. Obviously they have to contain and tackle Richardson. But you also have to defend the running backs in the flat. The Zips threw to their tailbacks 12 times last week.
Florida’s tailbacks only have four catches on the year, but they like to throw wide receiver screens and some shorter more lateral type passes. Tennessee’s defense must handle things in the flat.
9. SEC Thoughts
Tennessee and Florida highlight this week in the league. The other game to watch is Texas A&M and Arkansas in Dallas. Jimbo Fisher got a much needed win last week against Miami while Arkansas tried to sleep walk through a win over Missouri State. The Razorbacks turned it over three times and were clearly caught looking ahead.
Can Sam Pittman’s team continue to do it defensively and make the Aggies look bad?
Missouri and Auburn get together in a game that feels like neither program is heading to greener pastures. Auburn seems like it’s a new mess every day, starting at the quarterback position.
The rest of the league is playing in ‘pay day’ games and that includes Vanderbilt playing Alabama. After all, Vandy is staying in the SEC because of the money not because it ‘means more’ to them.
10. Do you remember the time
There aren’t many Vol-Gator wins to chose from through the years.
The 2016 game in the second half was as dominant as a Vol team has been against the Gators. I’ve always said the 2001 game was the closest thing to a playoff game I have ever covered.
But there’s something to be said for getting over the hump. The mental barrier. Josh Heupel said he doesn’t think there is a hurdle there with his team, but it’s there with the fan base as it was in 1998.
