WESTERN CAROLINA (1-1) AT TENNESSEE (1-1)
7 p.m. * Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. * ESPNU/106.5 FM
UT’s Josh Malone (3) celebrates his touchdown with teammate Pig Howard (2) while playing against Oklahoma during the first half of play Saturday. The Volunteers played the Sooner’s at home on September 12, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. THE MATCHUP
Tennessee’s primary objective of course will be to win the game against its overmatched visitors, and the Volunteers probably could hand the ball off 70 times and do so comfortably. It might behoove Tennessee, however, to get its passing game some work. The Vols only passed for 125 yards against Oklahoma and have just three passes of 20-plus yards in two games this season. That’s 13th in the SEC ahead of only LSU, which has played just one game. Tennessee had 44 such plays last season, good for sixth in the SEC, and quarterback Josh Dobbs accounted for 20 of those in his six games. The Catamounts probably won’t play the same kind of aggressive defense, with constant blitzing and physical one-on-one coverage on the perimeter, that Oklahoma did last week and Florida will next week, but the Vols need to find a rhythm in the passing game that was missing against the Sooners as they head into SEC play.
ONE TO WATCH