KNOXVILLE – A pessimist might look at Tennessee’s statistics against opponents’ rushing attacks and surmise that it’s been a bad year for the Volunteers’ defense.
An optimist might look at its statistics against the pass and believe it’s been a great year for the Vols’ defense.
Bob Shoop looks at the numbers and sees something in between.
“I know what the statistics tell you, that we’re one of the better pass defenses,” Tennessee’s second-year defensive coordinator said this week. “But nobody throws the ball against us. I don’t think our run defense is as bad as the numbers indicate, and I don’t think our pass defense is as good as the numbers indicate.”
Only three teams in the country have held opponents to fewer passing yards than Tennessee, while only seven have allowed more rushing yards.
But Shoop knows all that goes out the window tonight when the Vols (4-5, 0-5 SEC) play at Missouri (4-5, 1-4) and face one of the nation’s most high-octane passing offenses.
So just how tested is Tennessee’s pass defense that statistically ranks as one of the best in the country?
“It’s weird going into game 10 and saying, ‘I’m really not sure.’ But that’s probably the truth of the matter,” Shoop said.
In five of nine games this season, Tennessee’s defense has kept opposing quarterbacks at or under a 50 percent completion rate. In last week’s 24-10 victory over Southern Mississippi, the Golden Eagles completed just 13 of 34 passes.
Missouri junior quarterback Drew Lock has completed 61 percent of his passes and averaged 311 pass yards per game this season. His favorite target is 6-foot-3 J’Mon Moore. Then there are 6-3 Emanuel Hall and 6-5 tight end Albert Okwuegbunam. The towering trio have 19 of Lock’s nation-leading 31 touchdown passes this season.
“They’ve got big receivers, a wide variety of receivers,” Tennessee junior safety Micah Abernathy said. “Size, speed – they use splits and a lot of other things they do differently than other teams that we’ve played this year.”
In the slot, 5-10 Jonathon Johnson has 34 catches and four touchdown grabs. What makes the Tigers most unique, however, is their pace of play. Missouri ran 110 plays against Tennessee in the Vols’ 63-37 victory in Knoxville last season, and a Tennessee player estimated this week that Missouri took an average of just 12 seconds between plays in that game. If anything, the Tigers have sped up in 2017.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to limit our play calls,” linebacker Quart’e Sapp said. “We just have to get our play calls in faster. The communication has to be good to do really well. With the tempo and guys getting tired, you have to lock in. If you’re getting tired, don’t get lazy. Get back to the ball. No tying your shoes, fixing your sleeves or your socks or anything. Just get back to the ball.”
Tennessee’s defense has been less decimated by injuries than the offense, but depth is still thin across the board for Shoop’s unit for such a fast-paced assignment.
“Realistically, you really cannot prepare for it,” junior defensive end Kyle Phillips said. “You just do to the best you can. The main thing we’ve got to do is focus on getting stops, on getting three-and-outs, get them behind the chains. If you can do that, then they can’t go fast. I think that’s our goal for this week in this game.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.