Jack Jones (66) blocks the Gators. The Florida Gators visited the Tennessee Volunteers in a important SEC football contest at Neyland Stadium on September 24, 2016.KNOXVILLE – Two solid performances largely silenced the early-season worries surrounding Tennessee’s offensive line.
Another improved performance by the Volunteers’ front five against one of college football’s most talented defensive lines could silence any remaining doubters.
Due to the unit’s struggles against Appalachian State, Virginia Tech and Ohio, Tennessee’s offensive line drew plenty of criticism, but the return of Chance Hall and settling on a starting five led to steadier performances against Florida and Georgia heading into No. 9 Tennessee’s game at No. 8 Texas A&M on Saturday.
“You kind of block it out because you can’t get down on yourself,” guard Jack Jones said Tuesday. “You make one bad play, you can’t let it ruin the rest of your season. But at the same time you do kind of let it fuel you. You let it be a little motivation, maybe an extra little push during practice or maybe getting an extra rep on the bench press after practice.
“I think it’s a little bit of both, and I’m really glad to see how our offensive line has responded to it.”
In the first three games of the season Tennessee allowed seven sacks and 20 tackles for loss, but against Florida the Vols gave up only one sack and one other negative-yardage play and Georgia had just two sacks and five tackles for loss.
The offensive line also avoided any false start or holding penalties on the road against the Bulldogs.
The ground game has yet to kick into high gear, but the pass protection is noticeably better the past two weeks.
“I think the guys are doing a great job up front,” defensive end Derek Barnett said. “I don’t think they get enough credit as they should. They’re doing a good job for us.”
After starting two different lineups in three games and bucking recent trends by playing multiple lineups within the same game, the Vols have gone with a line of, from left to right, Brett Kendrick, Jashon Robertson, Dylan Wiesman, Jones and Hall the past two games.
“With every offensive line, you always hear about the negative stuff and never really the positive,” Jones said. “That’s just how it is, and we embrace that. I do feel like we’ve gotten better each week, which is what you expect and what we want. I feel like we’re coming together really close as a unit.
“As far as a rough start, yeah, there were some things we needed to fix and we have, but I think the way we’re playing now, we’re really starting to hit our stride. It’s a hard position, because on the offensive line you never get a pat on the back for doing well. You get a pat on the back for when you mess up.
“That’s how it is and we embraced that, but I love the challenge and I know our guys do. We’ve really grown. We had some early adversity and we’ve really grown through that.”
Tennessee’s offensive line will get a progress update in College Station against Texas A&M, which leads the nation with a whopping 50 tackles for loss in five games. The Aggies have five defenders ranked in the top 18 in the SEC in the category. Myles Garrett gets much of the attention, but fellow defensive end Daeshon Hall leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss.
In the SEC only Florida (19) and Alabama (17) have more sacks through five weeks than Texas A&M (16).
“They’re a really, really good defensive line,” Jones said. “We’ve definitely got our work cut out for us this week, which is how it is in the SEC. Georgia had a good defensive line. Florida had a good defensive line.
“I have been impressed with them watching film, and they’re definitely going to be a challenge, but I think it’s something that as offensive line we look forward to, and we look forward to that chance to make another statement this week.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.