KNOXVILLE — Yes, it's early — and by early, I mean far too soon to make any definitive declarations. And granted it was just an outmanned and wide-eyed Ball State team opposite the University of Tennessee inside an energized Neyland Stadium for Thursday night's season opener.
But when you're looking for any signs of improvement for a Volunteers defense that ranked at or near the bottom of nearly every meaningful statistical category last season, you don't nitpick when that progress is shown.
After UT's defense lit the fuse on what would become a 59-10 blowout with Tamarion McDonald's interception on the game's first snap — which led to a Hendon Hooker-to-Jalin Hyatt 23-yard touchdown on the Vols' first offensive play — the Cardinals converted the first two third downs they faced on their ensuing possession. That prompted social media and many of the 92,236 filling the stands to immediately begin buzzing and groaning with the same complaints of last year, when the Vols allowed opponents a ridiculous 42.5% third-down conversion rate, which ranked 13th in the Southeastern Conference.
But from that point, Tennessee's defense began to stiffen, and for the remainder of the first half, Ball State failed to convert its next eight third downs as well as both fourth-down attempts.
"That felt really good," McDonald said of his interception. "I saw that the quarterback didn't hand the ball off, so I knew he was coming back to his right. I kind of baited him and didn't chase the running back so he would throw it, and then I broke on the ball.
"Like (secondary) Coach (Willie) Martinez says, that was preparation meets opportunity."
A fanbase that had become increasingly vocal over the past few weeks with its belief in this team's potential was also forced to admit caution with that optimism, caused by an understanding that openers have been a stumbling block for their beloved team of late. After all, this is a UT program not that far removed from the embarrassment of its 2019 season-opening loss to Georgia State, a 26-point blowout defeat at the hands of West Virginia in 2018 and needing overtime to hold off Appalachian State in 2016.
Even in last year's opener, after scoring 14 first-quarter points, the Vols managed just 13 total yards in the second quarter before getting untracked in the second half against Bowling Green.
There was no such stumble, or even lull, in Thursday's effort, however. Instead the offense started fast and continued to look sharp throughout, rolling up 570 total yards and the most points since the 2009 opener. This was also UT's fourth straight game with at least 45 points scored dating to last season.
Meanwhile the defense created three turnovers, which led to 14 points, allowed just 74 rushing yards (2.6 yards per attempt) and kept Ball State to 5-of-14 on third-down conversions.
But unless the Vols blitzed, there was a worrisome lack of pressure, which was also part of the issue last season, when the defense opened itself up to big plays by needing to blitz more often in order to create pressure.
That's an area that could easily be exposed on next week's road trip to No. 17 Pittsburgh, which opened with a hard-fought 38-31 win against West Virginia on Thursday night and will clearly provide a much better gauge of what to expect once the Vols reach conference play. That's especially true considering last year's meeting with the Panthers turned into one of three single-digit losses for the Vols that were all made more frustrating by the defense's inability to get needed stops in key situations — particularly late.
"From the way they practice and how they compete, we do know more about our football team than we did this time a year ago," second-year Vols coach Josh Heupel said after Thursday's win. "We controlled the edges all night and were able to not let them get going vertically in the run game.
"Regardless of who you are, when you're on the field you have to keep pushing and competing and be ready to take advantage of your opportunity. That was the message to our team during the course of training camp and throughout this week and will continue to be."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.