KNOXVILLE - There were concerns surrounding Tennessee's defensive line entering the 2019 season - and that was before the loss of senior Emmit Gooden, the group's most experienced player.
Five games into the season, those concerns are still warranted.
The Volunteers' inability to generate a consistent pass rush has been an issue during their 1-4 start, which has included two Southeastern Conference losses by a combined 60 points against top-10 ranked Florida and Georgia. Tennessee hosts Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1) this Saturday at noon at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee has eight sacks this season, tied with Texas A&M and Vanderbilt for fewest in the SEC. Only three of the Vols' eight have come from the defensive line, with LaTrell Bumphus having two and Greg Emerson one - all coming against BYU. The team has 19 hurries, with only Darel Middleton and Aubrey Solomon from the line being credited with one each.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee defensive lineman LaTrell Bumphus (88) sacks BYU quarterback Zach Wilson (1) during an NCAA football game at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 in Knoxville, Tenn.The Vols have 21 tackles for loss, but only 4.5 have come from the defensive line.
"It starts with one-on-ones," head coach Jeremy Pruitt said Monday. "Sometimes you get some freebies and we've had some freebies this year, whether it's breakdowns by the other team or maybe we had a good schematic blitz.
"But the number one thing for a defensive lineman, a linebacker or a defensive back is to win one-on-ones."
After a combined six sacks and 16 tackles for loss in the first three games of the season, the Vols were pretty much kept at bay by Florida and Georgia.
Junior Matthew Butler said the defensive line has been working to improve and is doing whatever it can to affect the quarterback, even if the the stat line isn't impacted.
"As far as the last game, Georgia does have a good (offensive) line," Butler said. "They pass-protected well and they also have seven-man protections and bigger guys. We just need to have better execution with the one-on-ones. We might get two one-on-ones on the ends or two one-on-ones on the inside. We need to capitalize on those. Even if it's not a one-on-one, just pushing the pocket, get in the quarterback's face."
The struggles to get pressure up front have opened passing opportunities for opposing teams. Florida's Kyle Trask threw for 293 yards in the Gators' 34-3 win over the Vols, and Georgia's Jake Fromm had only five incompletions on 29 attempts in passing for 288 yards.
Trask and Fromm completed 77% of their passes and were sacked once each, both by senior linebacker Daniel Bituli. The Vols had to blitz from different angles, which led to openings in the secondary that the quarterbacks exploited.
"I think the pass rush helps us a lot," senior safety Nigel Warrior said. "What our coaches always say is: 'A good pass rush is a good back-end defense, and a good back-end defense is a good pass rush.' I think the pass rush helps us out a lot. It helps us break down from running around a lot.
"When the quarterback breaks the pocket, I think that it helps with us not having to run around so much and actually having to chase a receiver. With all the time that a quarterback could have, with the pass rush knocking it down, I think it really helps us a lot."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.