One of these teams took care of business and the other lost
a stinker to a middling Colorado team at home. This will be the first
opportunity to see 5-star freshman Faizon Brandon against a team with an actual
pulse. He had an exciting debut and made the plays he needed to make with no
turnovers. Cannot ask for much more than that.
Impose Your Will:
We watched the Yellow Jackets get absolutely bullied by a
Colorado team who all off season we said looked small. The Buffaloes had no
problem making Alberto Mendoza uncomfortable. I fully expect for Tennessee’s
defensive line to find their stride and push around an unimpressive Georgia
Tech line. That being said, Brent Key is known for having tough teams, and they
say the biggest improvement is from week one to week two. The one area
Tennessee needs to improve on is their run defense. Furman was able to rack up
some yards on QB runs and busted plays. You can look at that one of two ways:
the pass defense was solid and covered the field so the only thing open was the
scramble, or the defensive line needs to be better controlling their gaps.
The flip side is the offensive line is returning Sam
Pendleton after being suspended game one for violating team rules. We saw
several iterations of the offensive line already. It would be nice to see some
consistency. I expect the Volunteers to focus on the run game and let Desean Bishop
get a few more touches. The Furman gameplan was understandably vanilla. Let’s
see a little bit urgency from the run game.
Faizon Brandon:
Faizon had a good first game. An impressive first game even.
He made some throws that I was impressed with, but the number one takeaway I
have heard is he was not afraid to make the check down throws. The past couple
years we have had QB’s who were scared to make a decision, would hold on to the
ball too long and be forced to throw into coverage or scramble out of bounds.
Brandon seems much more comfortable making the quick decisions required to run
the offense. He also appears much more dangerous as a running threat. Georgia
Tech has a standout corner, so the biggest key to keep building off his week
one success is to not turnover the ball. A road environment can get nasty for a
Freshman if he starts forcing things down field against an experienced
defensive back.
Special Teams:
Special teams have not been a high point for Heupel
throughout his tenure. Kick off returns and punt returns have been notably
lacking, and the field goal unit last year was abysmal. Georgia Tech blocked a
field goal last week and had a field goal blocked. Short and simple, one of
Neyland’s Maxims: win special teams. That is where the breaks are made.
The Verdict:
I was shocked to see how poor Georgia Tech looked against
Colorado. I do not think Colorado is very good but going into someone else’s
house and knocking them off week one is a statement. I believe the Vol faithful
are traveling well and we could see another stadium takeover just as we saw in
Starkville last season. I like the Vols to win and cover the 13.5 point spread.