Tennessee Volunteers: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Tennessee season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis
– Tennessee Volunteers Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 3-7 overall, 3-7 in SEC
Head Coach: Josh Heupel, 1st year (28-8 overall)
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 75
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 28
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 36
Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– Alright, let’s get this thing going already. Tennessee is about to attempt to go from 0-to-60 with an offense that’s finally going to give teams something to worry about.
Last year the Vols were dead last in the SEC in third down conversions, 11th in total offense averaging 346 yards per game, and 12th in scoring averaging just 22 points per outing. There were moments, but the O scored more than 19 points once in the final seven games, and that came against Vanderbilt.
Enter new head coach Josh Heupel and an attack brought over from UCF that’s going to go fast, push the ball down the field, and at the very least be far more interesting. He’s bringing over offensive coordinator Alex Golesh from UCF, and he’s adding a TON of options from the transfer portal, and now …
– Welcome to the most interesting quarterback situation in college football. Jarrett Guarantano led the Vols in passing, and now he’s a Washington State Cougar. JT Shrout got in some throws, and now he’s a Colorado Buffalo. Harrison Bailey stepped in as the star-in-waiting and completed 71% of his throws for 578 yards and four touchdowns, and if the season started right now he might be QB1, but …
Joe Milton was the starting quarterback at Michigan. He struggled and sputtered, but he’s got the size, skills and arm to grow into the job. Hendon Hooker was the star playmaker for Virginia Tech for a few seasons, and he brings the mobility, experience, and resumé no one else in the mix has.
– If you came to Tennessee as a tight end, you’re probably in the transfer portal now. It’s not that Heupel and his offense totally ignores the position, but … tight ends are better off elsewhere, and that’s why four took off. However, Austin Pope and Princeton Want are sticking around – they’re the best two, anyway.
Leading receiver Josh Palmer is done, but Velus Jones is a dynamic playmaker who should thrive in the new attack, Jalin Hyatt is a dangerous deep threat, and Cedric Tillman adds 6-3 size and matchup problems.
– For all of the fun the UCF passing game had, the running backs turned out to be stars, too. The Vols lose top backs Ty Chandler (North Carolina) and Eric Gray (Oklahoma), and now it might be up to star JUCO transfer Tiyon Evans if third-leading back Jabari Small isn’t used more.
The offensive front that struggled so much in pass protection loses Trey Smith to the NFL and tackles Wanya Morris (Oklahoma) and Jahmir Johnson (Texas A&M) to the portal. Cade Mays, though, should be one of the nation’s best blockers no matter where he plays, Darnell Wright is a future NFL Draft pick, and there’s enough in place to come up with a solid front five.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The defense should’ve been better, but it didn’t get a whole lot of help from the offense. The pass rush wasn’t great, the secondary struggled, and overall the D allowed 407 yards and 30 points per game under a former coaching staff that knew how to put together defenses.
Josh Heupel landed veteran Penn State defensive coordinator to run the group, and he’s got a lot of puzzle pieces he’ll have to make fit. The depth on the line was gutted by the transfer portal, but …
– The linebacking corps was the hardest hit. Star Henry To’o To’o went from being the team’s leading tackler to Alabama. Third-leading tackler Quavaris Crouch is now a Michigan State Spartan, and Deandre Johnson took his talents to South Beach to become a Miami Hurricane.
However, the Vols got a few nice parts from the transfer portal, too, starting with Juwan Mitchell from Texas to help on the inside to help out Jeremy Banks, the team’s top returning linebacker with 28 stops.
The line should be okay – now it has to be disruptive. It’s one of the few areas that doesn’t need a whole lot of work with depth, size, and options to play around with.
The pressure, though, came from the linebacking corps, with the 290+ pounders needing to hold up against the run around 330-pound sophomore Elijah Simmons, 320-pound former Michigan transfer Aubrey Solomon, and top tackle 295-pound Matthew Butler.
– The Vols came up with just five interceptions, and four of them were from the defensive backs. The safeties are set with the veteran tandem of Jaylen McCollough and Trevon Flowers the good-tackling anchors, and corner Alontae Taylor has the upside to be an All-SEC performer if he can stay healthy and come up with a few more big plays.
– What You Need To Know: Offense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best Tennessee Volunteers Offensive Player
OG Cade Mays, Sr.
Admitted cop-out pick No. 1 – the best Tennessee player will likely be playmaker Velus Jones in this new attack, one of the other receivers, or whatever statistical star ends up winning the quarterback gig. But for now, Mays is here as one of the nation’s most versatile linemen who’s more than ready to live up to his immense billing.
He hasn’t been the all-star he was expected to be as a superstar recruit for Georgia, but he’s been good at guard and now probably cementing himself at right tackle.
2. OT Darnell Wright, Jr.
3. WR Velus Jones, Sr.
4. QB Hendon Hooker, Sr.
5. QB Harrison Bailey, Soph.
Related
2021 Tennessee Volunteers Football Schedule: Analysis, Best and Worst Case Scenarios
Best Tennessee Volunteers Defensive Player
DT Matthew Butler, Sr.
Admitted cop-out pick No. 2.
Juwan Mitchell will probably be the team’s leading tackler, and go ahead and make a call on one of the other NFL-sized linemen, one of the good-tackling safeties, or corner Alontae Taylor for this spot.
Tennessee should have a strength on the defensive line as the year goes on. There’s plenty of bulk and several good options at table, but Butler is the most active of the bunch coming off a 43-tackle, two sack season.
A true leader on the field, off of it, and in the classroom, he has been through it all with this program. At the very least in this year of upheaval with the program, he’s one guy the coaching staff can absolutely count on.
2. CB Alontae Taylor, Sr.
3. S Trevon Flowers, Sr.
4. S Jaylen McCollough, Jr.
5. LB Juwan Mitchell, Sr.
Top Incoming Tennessee Volunteers Transfer
LB Juwan Mitchell, Sr.
The top transfer is actually Hendon Hooker or even Joe Milton, but more on that in the next section. The Vols have a ton of quarterbacks to choose from and should be okay no matter who they decide on. Linebacker, though, is a different story.
The Vols lost three very, very strong veterans to the transfer portal, and now they get a 230-pound thumper who can instantly fit on the inside and be one of the team’s top tacklers. Johnson made 99 stops with three sacks in his two years at Texas, and now he should be one of the biggest key guys against the run.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis
NEXT: Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Tennessee Volunteers Biggest Key: Offense
Just get the thing to work. Tennessee isn’t winning the national title this season. It’s not going to win the SEC Championship, and unless it catches a few monster breaks, it’s not going to win the SEC East.
The goal under new head coach Josh Heupel has to be to throw a scare into the rest of college football as Tennessee shows what’s coming. The offense has to look like it might be a few clicks away from being a problem.
The Tennessee fan base needs to once again know it’s like for the O to come up with 30 or more points on a consistent basis.
Obviously everyone wants to win now, but if the offense can hit on third downs – Tennessee was MISERABLE at moving the chains, and UCF was first in the AAC and 11th in the nation on third down conversions – and if Heupel can bring the nation’s No. 4 passing attack from Orlando to Knoxville, then Year One will be a success.
Tennessee Volunteers Biggest Key: Defense
Take the ball away. The UCF defense had a whole slew of problems last year under Heupel, but it occasionally made up for them with a bunch of takeaways.
Tennessee’s defense had a whole slew of problems, and it didn’t get the takeaways with just 12 on the season.
Time of possession never mattered at UCF, and last year Tennessee only had the ball for just under 28 minutes per game. If the D is going to be on the field for that long, it has to generate big plays, and the Vols were 1) horrible on third downs and 2) came up with just ten takeaways and no more than one in any of the last seven games.
Tennessee Volunteers Key Player To A Successful Season
QB Hendon Hooker, Sr.
Or Harrison Bailey, or Brian Maurer, or Joe Milton. Every coaching staff in the transfer portal era knows what’s on the line when they come up with a depth chart, but there’s a little more on the line here. The split-second the Vols announce a starter, the circling vultures are going to pounce.
And even then, no pressure, QB1 – be amazing, or the fan base is going to want to change things up almost instantly.
Bailey would be the call to grow into the job, and Milton would be the push-through-the-pain-for-a-possible-massive-payoff pick, but Hooker is the guy who seems to be the best early fit.
He ran for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns at Virginia Tech, he hit 63% of his passes for close to 3,000 yards and 22 touchdowns with just seven picks, and when he was healthy and right, the team won.
Tennessee Volunteers Key Game To The 2021 Season
at Florida, Sept. 25
You want to make a big splash? You want to show that it’s football time in Tennessee again? Finally beat one of the program’s big three again.
The Vols have to go to Alabama and they get Georgia at home, but out of the three – especially early in the season – the Gators might be the most gettable, even on the road. Tennessee has lost four in a row to Florida, 15 of the last 16, and hasn’t won in Gainesville since 2003.
2004 was the last time the Vols beat Bama, and it’s been four years since they took out Georgia.
– Tennessee Volunteers Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2020 Tennessee Volunteers Fun Stats
– Field Goal Attempts: Opponents 19-of-22 – Tennessee 5-of-9
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 98 – Tennessee 31
– Time of Possession: Opponents 32:03 – Tennessee 27:57
NEXT: Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
Tennessee Volunteers College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
This is one of those programs.
It’s like Nebraska, or Michigan, or Florida State, or Texas, or USC. It’s a brand-name, should-be powerhouse that has every possible advantage.
It knows what it’s like to be among the elite of the elite, and it’s one of those places that wouldn’t surprise you all that much if it belted out an 11-1 season and pushed for the College Football Playoff …
If you’re of a certain age.
No, Tennessee hasn’t been totally miserable, but 2007 was the last time it was in the SEC Championship and 1998 was the last time it won the thing.
There are a whole lot of players on the 2021 Tennessee team who weren’t alive yet when Peerless Price was taking down Florida State in the first BCS Championship.
It’s been a long, long time since the Vols mattered in the national championship race.
To a younger generation, the program has become defined by bizarre coaching searches, the inability to beat rivals Alabama, Florida or Georgia – at least on a regular basis – and three losing seasons in the last four years.
However …
Set The Tennessee Volunteers Regular Season Win Total At … 7
This might be a renovation instead of a total overhaul.
At the very least, the program made a call to upgrade the offense in the SEC arms race by hiring Josh Heupel. He might not have the coaching trophies in the case, but he did a good job at UCF, his offense works, and it’s a shot at getting Tennessee to pivot into the new era where you don’t get into the building against the better conference teams without starting at around 400 yards per game.
It’s going to take at least a year to get this whole thing going, though, with a mass exodus of players through the transfer portal and with the scheme probably not enough of a differentiating factor to push past the SEC stars. Even so …
Bowling Green, Tennessee Tech, South Alabama, Vanderbilt. That’s a base of four wins to build on, home dates against Pitt and South Carolina are 50/50 battles, and there needs to be a road victory or three somewhere – like at Missouri or Kentucky – to show that things are headed in the right direction.
A giant win would be nice, but assume road losses at Florida and Alabama and at home against Georgia. On the plus side, there’s no Texas A&M, LSU or Auburn to face, the last three games are at home, and the offense is going to give it a shot to make Tennessee football more fun.
A winning season and a bowl appearance will be a good start.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– Tennessee Schedule Analysis
