Comments from Clemson assistant coach will have Vols fans feeling some kind of way about UT's defense
The Tennessee Vols' defense was heavily criticized in 2022. Some of that criticism was deserved. Tennessee's pass defense didn't play particularly well this season. And the South Carolina game was disastrous (there's never a good excuse for giving up 63 points to a team that scored six points the week before). Not all of the criticism, […]
The Tennessee Vols' defense was heavily criticized in 2022.
Some of that criticism was deserved. Tennessee's pass defense didn't play particularly well this season. And the South Carolina game was disastrous (there's never a good excuse for giving up 63 points to a team that scored six points the week before).
Not all of the criticism, though, was fair. The Vols' defense played extremely well at times this season. They played well for most of the Florida game. They shut down LSU, Kentucky, and Vanderbilt. And they limited to Clemson to just 14 points and one touchdown.
Tennessee finished the season with the No. 36 scoring defense in the nation. The Vols gave up seven fewer points a game in 2022 than they did in 2021.
That's progress.
Still, the memories of that South Carolina are etched in the minds of many fans and analysts.
That game, however, should be viewed as an outlier.
Tennessee's defense is much better than what we saw in that game. And they're hard to prepare for, too. The Vols' offensive scheme gets all of the attention, but Tennessee's defensive scheme is pretty hard to figure out as well.
Just listen to some comments from Clemson offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter after the Tigers lost to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl.
"They blitzed us when we were hot, which means we didn't have enough guys to block and so we needed to get rid of the ball a little quicker," said Streeter after the Orange Bowl. "They did a good job, I'm going to credit them, on defense, of disguising a lot of stuff. We knew they were going to do it, but they did a really good job of disguising some of the blitzes, blitz package, and how they did on the back end, too. Which was disguising stuff."
Streeter wasn't the only person in Clemson's locker room that felt like Tennessee did a great job of confusing the Tigers' offense.
Several of Clemson's offensive linemen told The Athletic's David Ubben that Tennessee's pressure made it difficult to get their protections correct.
Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks caught some heat this season — and I certainly believe he could've called a better game against South Carolina — but his unit played very well, for the most part, this season. And I think his scheme — especially in the games against Kentucky and Clemson — was brilliant at times this season.
Once Banks gets some more elite talent on the defensive side of the ball, the Vols' defense could turn into one of the more feared units in the SEC.
Featured image via Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
