Tennessee HC Josh Heupel makes statement about Vols defender that should scare the rest of the SEC
Tennessee Vols edge rusher James Pearce was a big reason why UT was able to gut out a 20-13 win against the Texas A&M Aggies in Neyland Stadium on Saturday. Pearce had three tackles (two tackles for loss), a sack, and five quarterback hits. His impact on the game, however, was even bigger than his […]
Tennessee Vols edge rusher James Pearce was a big reason why UT was able to gut out a 20-13 win against the Texas A&M Aggies in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
Pearce had three tackles (two tackles for loss), a sack, and five quarterback hits. His impact on the game, however, was even bigger than his stat line suggested.
Texas A&M had to account for Pearce any time he was on the field. Sometimes that meant using extra blockers to make sure he couldn't get to quarterback Max Johnson (which obviously frees up other players to make plays). The former four-star recruit is clearly a special player who can take over a game.
And the scary thing for the rest of the SEC is that he's really just getting started. Pearce, who is a sophomore, is still learning how to be a dominant player. And Vols head coach Josh Heupel thinks he still has a lot of room to grow.
“James is a great football player," said Heupel. "He’s still not anywhere near what he’s gonna be. He’s gonna continue to get better. [He] needs to continue to get better every week. But he’s starting to mature and be the same competitor, relentless, every single rep."
"But it’s all of those guys together," added Heupel. "There’s not just one guy that you can slide, you can chip. It’s all of those guys up front operating and functioning as one. If it’s just one, you can do things from a protection standpoint to try to limit a guy. It’s all of those guys competing the way that they did. He had a great game. But man, everybody that stepped up there looked like they competed extremely hard tonight.”
Heupel is obviously correct that Tennessee's defensive line is loaded with playmakers that can affect the line of scrimmage. But Pearce is the guy that the offense is definitely giving some extra attention to. And if he continues to improve, he could develop into an unstoppable force for the Vols (which is wild, because it seems like he's already to that point as a player).
I don't know what the rest of this season holds for Tennessee. Maybe the offense improves and the defense is dominant enough that the Vols can continue to win and find a way to get to Atlanta (that's still very much in play for Tennessee). There's a lot of season left to be played and the story of the 2023 team is nowhere near complete.
But I think everyone knows that Tennessee will enter the 2024 season as a College Football Playoff contender from day one. And if they're going to reach that goal next season, they'll need dominant players on both sides of the ball. And Pearce looks like the type of player that can carry a championship caliber defense.
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