Florida’s 3-0 halftime lead over Tennessee last Saturday night inside Neyland Stadium could have been 13-0 or even 17-0 had it not been for the red-zone defense of the Volunteers, which has been showing up every weekend.
The Vols, who wound up defeating the Gators 23-17 in overtime to improve to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Southeastern Conference play, have allowed opponents inside their 20-yard line on 19 occasions this season. They have given up 12 scores for a 63.16% clip that ranks sixth nationally, and only six of the 19 trips have yielded touchdowns for a 31.58% rate that is fourth.
“It really just falls back on our training,” Tennessee fifth-year senior defensive tackle Omari Thomas said this week during a news conference. “We go through spring practice, fall camp and regular practice, and we have red-zone moments where we get a chance to be in the red zone where the offense is trying to score. We just take pride in those moments.
“We take pride in not letting people score and get in the end zone. You can get in situations like that from sudden changes and different things like that, so you just have to be ready to capitalize and not get scared about it and just be ready to go out there and do what you do, honestly.”
Tennessee will seek to continue its defensive red-zone success Saturday afternoon (3:30 on ABC) inside Neyland against No. 7 Alabama (5-1, 2-1), which has racked up 19 touchdowns in 24 red-zone trips for an 83.33% success rate that ranks eighth nationally.
The Gators ventured inside Tennessee’s 20-yard line on three consecutive possessions in the second quarter, with the first of those ending with cornerback Rickey Gibson III stuffing receiver Eugene Wilson III for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run from the 18. Florida’s next drive advanced to Tennessee’s 1-yard line, but Vols edge rusher James Pearce Jr. stripped quarterback Graham Mertz of the ball and recovered the fumble.
In the final 30 seconds of the half, the Gators drove to Tennessee’s 15-yard line, but Mertz was sacked for a 10-yard loss by Omarr Norman-Lott and Boo Carter. Florida was then flagged for an illegal substitution as the half expired, thus nullifying a successful field-goal attempt.
“I think, as far as the red zone goes, the guys are just straining,” Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “Whether you’re in a big field or whether you’re at the goal line, we talk about putting the ball down and having a chance to play another snap. That’s just a mentality thing. If we’re still playing on third down and fourth down, we want to play as hard as we can.
“We want to try to outexecute people. To me, it’s just a hats off to our defense and how hard those guys play and how detailed they are in situational football.”
Tennessee ranked 121st in red-zone defense when Banks was in his first season in 2021, allowing scores 92.0% of the time and touchdowns 72.0% of the time.
“At the end of the day, you would like for them not to be in the red zone, but things happen over the course of the game,” Banks said. “I think the biggest issue is not panicking when you get put in those situations.”
Said junior linebacker Kalib Perry: “We know that’s a critical part of the field and that we’ve got to hold them to three points or not let them get a field goal at all.”
Assessing Boo
Banks was asked this week for a midseason assessment of Carter.
The 5-foot-11, 195-pound freshman out of Bradley Central is coming off his busiest game, having racked up seven tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against the Gators. Carter was named Monday as the SEC co-freshman of the week.
“There have been some really good highs, and there have obviously been some lows,” Banks said, “but the highs have been coming and coming and coming. He’s right where we hoped he would be, and he’s getting better every week.”
A career first
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was asked during Wednesday’s SEC Zoom call about facing Kalen DeBoer in the league’s first-ever pairing of coaches from South Dakota.
“It’s the first time I’ve come across that in my career,” Heupel said. “I’ve known Kalen for a long time, and he’s always done a really good job everywhere that he’s been. He’s certainly doing a good job at Alabama, too.
“I’m sure there are going to be a lot of people in South Dakota watching the game.”
Odds and ends
Tennessee has requested an “orange out” of Neyland on Saturday following last weekend’s checkerboard look. … The Vols are 16-1 in Neyland since the start of the 2022 season, losing only to top-ranked Georgia last November. … Fifth-year senior center Cooper Mays has gone 20 straight games without allowing a sack. … The Vols have given up only three plays of 30-plus yards all season, tied for first nationally with Army, Nebraska and Texas.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.