KNOXVILLE — It could be a botched assignment, an incorrect alignment or just a missed tackle.
They may be simple mistakes, but the consequences can be, as Tennessee defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox calls them, catastrophic, which is how UT terms plays of 25 yards or more. The Volunteers’ defense has given up too many of those big-yardage plays, and the culprit is often a small mistake that results in a big problem.
“We’re doing some good things, but we’re giving up just these enormous plays that are killing us,” UT coach Derek Dooley said. “It’s either been a guy just beating us one-on-one or a missed assignment and nobody able to correct it or just not good tackling once the ball breaks in the perimeter game. That’s something we’ve got to eliminate. Our goal in every game is zero plays over 25 yards.”
The Vols have allowed three of them in each of their first three games. Not surprisingly, UT’s opponents have six touchdowns and two field goals on those nine drives. UT has held opponents to three yards per play on 208 of its 217 defensive snaps, but the average for the other nine plays is 46 yards.
All three of UT’s opponents this season have up-tempo offense that, combined with UT’s youth, can force some of those pre-snap failures. Freshmen linebackers A.J. Johnson and Curt Maggitt start in UT’s base defense, but Montana and Cincinnati’s spread offenses forced the Vols into their five-defensive back nickel package for the majority of the first two games. Most of the plays that have victimized UT were runs or short passes.