Why the narrative about the Tennessee Vols is about to change in a big way
For the last two years, the narrative surrounding the Tennessee Vols has been that they can score a lot of points, but they can't stop anyone's offense. In 2021, which was Josh Heupel's first season as the program's head coach, the Vols had the No. 90 scoring defense in the nation after giving up 29.1 […]
For the last two years, the narrative surrounding the Tennessee Vols has been that they can score a lot of points, but they can't stop anyone's offense.
In 2021, which was Josh Heupel's first season as the program's head coach, the Vols had the No. 90 scoring defense in the nation after giving up 29.1 points per game.
Last season, Tennessee showed a significant improvement on the defensive side of the ball, finishing with the No. 36 scoring defense in the nation while allowing 22.8 points per game.
Despite the improvement from 2021 to 2022, the defense has remained the biggest question mark for the Vols entering Heupel's third season.
But that narrative/question could be changing soon.
Over Tennessee's last three games, the Vols have allowed just nine points per game while totaling 31 tackles for loss and 11 sacks (via Tennessee's Bill Martin).
Critics of Tennessee's defense will point to the Vols' opponents during that stretch — Vanderbilt, Clemson, and Virginia — as a reason why that 9.0 points per game figure shouldn't hold much weight.
And while I can somewhat understand that argument, adding some context is important.
Vanderbilt was fighting for bowl eligibility last season against Tennessee. And the Vols were coming off a brutal 63-38 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks (Vandy was also coming off back to back wins against Kentucky and Florida).
There were plenty of analysts who put the Vols on upset alert due to unfounded rumors flying around that suggested that Tennessee's players were fighting amongst themselves (ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit was the chief distributor of the blatantly false information) after the lopsided loss against the Gamecocks.
The Vols, despite being on upset alert (Herbstreit actually picked Vanderbilt to win the game), allowed the Commodores to score 0 points.
Tennessee then allowed 14 points to Clemson in the Orange Bowl before surrendering just 13 points to Virginia in this year's season-opener.
Clemson was eager to prove in the Orange Bowl that they're still a nationally relevant program (though that might be in question after they lost to Duke to open the 2023 season). And Virginia, while likely not bowl bound this season, is still a Power-5 opponent that has some talented players. The Vols, however, did what an SEC defense should do against a team like Virginia — they shut them down.
If Tennessee's defense continues to perform at this level, it won't be long before there's no choice but for the narrative to change.
And really, the narrative was unfair before the Vols' most recent three-game stretch.
Tennessee's defense wasn't nearly as bad last season as some talking heads would lead you to believe.
Sure, the South Carolina game was rough. It was easily the Vols' worst defensive performance of the season. But outside of that game, the rest of the results weren't that bad. In fact, some of the results were elite. Giving up only 13 points on the road against LSU and six points against Kentucky is nearly as a good as it gets. Even the performance on the road against Pittsburgh (27 points in an overtime game) was pretty decent.
Tennessee was a little shaky against Florida in the second half (the Gators scored 19 of their 33 points in the second half). And they allowed Alabama to score 49 points — though it's hard to get upset about that game considering one of those scores was a defensive touchdown and the Vols were playing against generational talent in Bryce Young (and, of course, Tennessee won the game).
There were signs last season that Tennessee's defense was finding its way. And those signs intensified after the disaster in Columbia last November.
If the Vols' defense goes from being a weakness to a strength, you might just be looking at a playoff team in Knoxville. It's still a bit early for that kind of talk, but Tennessee's a contender. That doesn't mean they're going to reach the College Football Playoff this season, but they're one of the few programs that has a legitimate chance to get there.
Butch Jones says Tennessee’s loss to Oklahoma in 2015 still ‘haunts’ him
Butch Jones says the Tennessee Vols’ loss to the Oklahoma Sooners in 2015 still ‘haunts’ him
Featured image via Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
