There are several factors that will determine who wins the matchup between Texas and Tennessee on Saturday, but one thing that will be especially important is the battle between the Longhorns’ defensive line and the Vols’ offensive line.

This will be the toughest challenge of the year so far for Tennessee’s offensive line, and how they perform will likely determine the outcome of the game. The Vols have to be able to protect quarterback Faizon Brandon and also run the ball in this game for Tennessee to have a real chance.

Texas is expected to attack the interior of Tennessee’s offensive line

Tennessee’s offensive line has mostly played well this season — ESPN’s Cole Cubelic thinks the Vols’ offensive line has been the most consistent in the SEC so far — but there have been some uneven moments.

Specifically, the interior of the Vols’ offensive line has had a few reps this season that they’d like to have back.

So it should come as no surprise that Texas is expected to attack the interior of the Vols’ offensive line on Saturday.

Tennessee’s best combination this season featured West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam at right guard, but he hasn’t been able to play a full game yet, which has led to Sham Umarov getting most of those reps.

Haslam and Umarov are expected to rotate against Texas, but Haslam should see an increase in snaps.

Something else interesting to note is that Tennessee faced Texas defensive tackle Ian Geffrard, who weighs 375 pounds, last season when he was at Arkansas (he had two tackles last season against the Vols).

“I think that they’re going to rotate up front (at right guard) and I think they’ll rotate early in the game,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs on Friday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “I don’t know if Donovan will start or if Sham will start. I think they’ll get to Donovan pretty quickly in the game. The question is: how many snaps can Donovan Haslam play from a conditioning standpoint?”

“(Texas defensive coordinator) Will Muschamp is not afraid at all to take a big guy like [Geffrard] and put him straight up over the center or shade him over the center and play him more as a nose tackle than a true defensive tackle in a four-man front,” added Hubbs. “It would not be a shock at all to me if he’s lined up straight over (Vols center) Sam Pendleton, much like Jordan Davis did when he was at Georgia when he was lining up over centers a lot of the times, and shading over the center and seeing if the center can snap the ball and handle that load coming at him.

“I think one of the big keys in the game is what does Tennessee do in the interior of the offensive line? Do they give up a bunch of inside penetration? If they do, that’s disruptive to the run game for what Tennessee wants to do. Can they hold up enough to create those creases that they’re looking for in the run game? That to me is one of the biggest offensive challenges because if you can’t run it, then it’s going to be all on Faizon Brandon, and I don’t think that’s the direction Tennessee wants to go. They’re not afraid of Faizon having to make plays with his legs and throwing the football and doing those things, but you want to be complementary to him and to do that, you’ve got to run the football. You’re not going to run it for 299 yards against this team, but you’ve got to run it effectively to where you create some balance with your offense.”

Tennessee’s interior offensive line is going to need to play its best game of the season against Texas. Now, no one expects them to win every rep — Texas is going to make plays; they’re a talented team. But if the Vols are going to win this game, Tennessee’s offensive line will have to win more reps than it loses against a talented Texas defensive front.