Vols glance
* Tennessee (3-3, 1-2 SEC) at No. 8 Alabama (6-1, 3-1) * Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT * CBS and 106.5, 97.3 and 99.3 FM
Bowling Green’s Travis Greene (8) tries to get around Tennessee’s Jalen Reeves-Maybin (21). The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Bowling Green Falcons at Nissan Stadium in Nashville September 5, 2015.Read more
* Tennessee’s defense set for progress test against Derrick Henry, Alabama * Wiedmer: UT’s Mike DeBord confident in Vols offense * Coach Nick Saban concerned with Tide’s play at home * Alabama-Tennessee rivalry still special to both sides * Tennessee needs Josh Dobbs to be special against Alabama * Wiedmer: Unlike 2009, UT may edge Bama at the finish
KNOXVILLE — The Tennessee football team spent most of its lone open date of the season addressing the problems that plagued the Volunteers defensively during the first half of the season.
They now get to test their progress on the road against the No. 8 team in the country.
The Alabama Crimson Tide aren’t the ideal opponent to face for a defense that’s had its ups and downs, and the Vols will play at Tuscaloosa on Saturday knowing they must tackle better and eliminate the big plays that have ruined some otherwise sturdy defensive efforts.
Facing an offense led by a star running back such as Alabama’s Derrick Henry makes none of those chores easier.
“Everybody’s got to take care of their responsibility,” Tennessee defensive coordinator John Jancek said after Tuesday’s practice. “You’ve got to play with great fundamentals. You’ve got to get off blocks. You have to be great with your eye discipline. And you’ve got to get them down.”
The Vols enter Saturday’s game ranked 13th in the conference in total defense and are allowing 25.7 points per game, which is tied with Auburn for the second-most in the league.
Now they face Alabama, which is sixth in the SEC in total offense largely due to Henry, the 6-foot-3, 242-pound former five-star recruit who is coming off a career-high 236-yard performance against Texas A&M last week and has scored a touchdown in an Alabama-record 12 consecutive games.
The Vols have been using Neiko Creamer, a 6-3, 233-pound redshirt freshman tight end, at running back to simulate Henry in practice this week and last.
“That’s kind of what I would expect from an Alabama running back,” said linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Tennessee’s leading tackler. “They’re going to have good running backs every year. Any game, they can go off for a lot of yards.
“We’ve got to do our best job of limiting those plays.”
It’s those plays that have been a real problem for Tennessee’s defense this season.
The 29 plays of 20-plus yards allowed by the Vols are the second-most in the SEC, and those plays have accounted for more than 41 percent of the yards they have surrendered this season.
Jancek said mistakes in techniques, rather than busts in coverage or alignment, have caused the issues.
“It’s not somebody not being where they’re supposed to be,” he explained. “It’s playing the ball in the air. It’s not getting a pass rush. It all has an effect on those big plays.
“What would really be maddening is if it was a bust. The guys are working hard. They’re in position. That’s what we ask them to do as coaches. Now we’ve just got to find a way to make those plays.”
Since the start of the 2008 season, the Tide are 73-4 when rushing for at least 140 yards, and Henry is a good bet to get that by himself against a Tennessee defense that’s allowed a 100-yard rusher in four straight games.
All of those running backs were able to gash the Vols for big plays to surpass that mark.
Western Carolina’s Detrez Newsome had 64 of his 128 yards on a touchdown run against Tennessee’s reserves, and nearly half of Florida running back Kelvin Taylor’s 102 yards came on a 47-yard run in the first quarter.
The Arkansas tandem of Alex Collins and Rawleigh Williams had runs of 25, 29 and 44 yards.
Georgia’s Sony Michel had 95 yards on runs of 66 and 29 yards and managed just 50 yards on his other 20 carries.
“We’ve fitted a bunch of plays,” defensive line coach Steve Stripling said. “I think you start the Georgia game (with) 11 straight plays we fit them up. They’re gaining very minimal yards, and all the sudden, bam, one popped through. We missed a tackle (or) we lost leverage.
“Those are the areas that we’re really emphasizing right now – our leverage and making tackles and exact fits. It gets a little frustrating, to be honest, when you’re good for several plays in a row. You’ve just got to stay focused.”
The Vols also are allowing nearly 14 yards per pass completion this season, so gearing up to stop Henry may leave exposed a secondary that’s been a disappointment this season.
“When you face the big backs and the backfields that we’ve been up against, you start piling the box,” Jancek said. “You’re going to get some deep balls. We’ve got to do a good job. We worked hard on that in the bye week, and it’s just going to be a blend of bouncing your calls around from piling the box to now playing some split-safety defenses.
“Ultimately, guys have got to make a play.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.