Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Greg McElroy hasn’t been shy about slighting the Tennessee Vols this season.

McElroy, who is an analyst for ESPN, angered Vols fans earlier this season when, for seemingly no reason at all, he made it clear that he’s not a fan of Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar a few days before the Vols played Alabama.

Somehow, ESPN still let McElroy call the Tennessee vs Alabama game after he dropped that comment. And, as expected, he was practically giddy in the booth when the Crimson Tide won the game.

McElroy’s a smart analyst (he’s actually usually spot on with his takes about Tennessee’s games — he correctly predicted how the Ohio State game would go last season, and the Alabama and Oklahoma games this season, for example). But when it comes to hiding the Bama bias and his disdain for Tennessee — well, he’s not good at that part (which is fair…that stuff is what makes college football fun — but maybe ESPN shouldn’t put him on games involving Alabama or rivals of Alabama).

Greg McElroy calls out Tennessee’s defense ahead of Vols’ game against Florida

While previewing this weekend’s biggest college football games on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, McElroy made it a point to call out Tennessee’s defense ahead of their matchup against Florida on Saturday night.

“Florida is still a remarkably talented football team,” said McElroy. “That’s what’s so funny about this. Like, they’re so talented, man. It’s almost always hard picking against them because of how good they are. It’s just, I don’t trust them. What kind of effort am I going to get?

“And then on the other side, I don’t love Tennessee’s defense at all. I don’t know what the heck has happened there this year. I know they lost some pieces, but it’s like a grab bag every snap. I feel like calling a game should be like making an orchestra. And when I watch Tennessee’s defense, it’s like the trumpets are doing their own thing. The violin is doing their own thing. The percussion is all over the place. I feel like they don’t really play together very well for whatever reason.”

There’s no doubt that Tennessee’s defense hasn’t been as good this season as it was a year ago. But there are several reasons for that. The Vols’ top two cornerbacks (Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson) have basically missed the entire season, which has forced Tennessee to rely on a true freshman cornerback in Ty Redmond.

Additionally, defensive back Boo Carter, one of the Vols’ most talented players coming into the season, was mostly a non-factor before getting dismissed from the team this past week.

It hasn’t been all bad, though, for the Vols’ defense this season. Tennessee has consistently made big plays on that side of the ball. The Vols, for example, are fourth in the SEC in sacks, third in tackles for loss, and first in defensive touchdowns.

We’ll see how Tennessee’s defense responds to the criticism on Saturday night in the Swamp. The Vols will definitely need to play well defensively to get their first win in Gainesville since 2003.

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