baddnole
Well-Known Member
Mike DeBord wasn't brought to Tennessee to change the Vols' offense. The veteran coordinator was brought to Tennessee in order to guarantee continuity to predecessor Mike Bajakian's scheme but carefully tweak a few things.
Tennessee sophomore running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara
One of those things was the running game.
So far, so good.
Through three games, Tennessee has attempted 158 rushes — 24 more than any other team in the Southeastern Conference.
Only Georgia — and only barely — has more than Tennessee's 738 yards on the ground.
DeBord said after Tuesday's practice on Haslam Field that none of that really surprised him, especially when considering that lopsided wins in two of the Vols' first three games forced the team to keep the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter.
The bottom line, though, is that DeBord wanted to put some muscle back into Tennessee's ground game, and that has happened to this point.
"I think we really wanted to emphasize the run game," DeBord said. "You've got to be able to run the football to win, and we knew that we'd bring the passing game along, and we've done that. I don't think it really surprises me too much, but we've also gotten into some games where we had to run the ball a lot, too, like in the first game. We had to run the ball more towards the end of the first game, and then this past game was like that a little bit, too.
"Some of that is dictated by the games."
Vols offensive coordinator Mike DeBord )
But some of it is simply Tennessee doing what it needs to do in order to give itself a chance to win. And that has meant keeping the ball on the ground with the three-headed, run-game snake of quarterback Joshua Dobbs and sophomore running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.
The Vols' passing game has been a work in progress — at times a frustrating work in progress, and DeBord doesn't deny that — but the running game has been reliable.
"We've been pretty effective running the ball, and our passing game has continued to improve, which that's what happens in a season, and it's what happens in training camp, too," DeBord said.
Both facets of Tennessee's offense should be tested in a big way Saturday, when the Vols (2-1, 0-0 SEC) play at Eastern Division rival Florida (3-0, 1-0) in The Swamp.
Florida's defense is probably best known for its highly touted secondary, and rightfully so, but DeBord said he's been equally impressed by the Gators' front seven. Florida is seventh nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 55.3 yards per game and 1.9 yards per carry.
"We've got a really stiff challenge this week," DeBord said. "Florida has got a great defense. Up front, linebackers, secondary, all of it. It's gonna be a great challenge for us. Their aggressiveness, how they attack, and their speed, those would be the things that really stood out to me."
DeBord said his offense should benefit from playing a similarly-talented defense in Oklahoma, which came back late to stun the Vols in double-overtime two weeks ago in Neyland Stadium.
"They're a lot more ready for this than they would have been a couple weeks ago, and I think that's just the process you go through in the season," DeBord said. "We expect them to continue to improve as we go through the season. An example would be, you know, in the second game, we had some problems with protection and picking people up when we were trying to throw deep. Then in this past game, we picked 'em up twice in a blitz and hit the ball deep. They're continuing to get better with a lot of things.
"But playing against a great defense, you've got to know there's gonna be times where you have struggles, and you've got to be patient, and you've just got to keep grinding the ball. We've got to be patient both ways, throwing the ball and running the ball. I think that's what (playing Oklahoma) taught us, more than anything."
Tennessee sophomore running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara
One of those things was the running game.
So far, so good.
Through three games, Tennessee has attempted 158 rushes — 24 more than any other team in the Southeastern Conference.
Only Georgia — and only barely — has more than Tennessee's 738 yards on the ground.
DeBord said after Tuesday's practice on Haslam Field that none of that really surprised him, especially when considering that lopsided wins in two of the Vols' first three games forced the team to keep the ball on the ground in the fourth quarter.
The bottom line, though, is that DeBord wanted to put some muscle back into Tennessee's ground game, and that has happened to this point.
"I think we really wanted to emphasize the run game," DeBord said. "You've got to be able to run the football to win, and we knew that we'd bring the passing game along, and we've done that. I don't think it really surprises me too much, but we've also gotten into some games where we had to run the ball a lot, too, like in the first game. We had to run the ball more towards the end of the first game, and then this past game was like that a little bit, too.
"Some of that is dictated by the games."
Vols offensive coordinator Mike DeBord )
But some of it is simply Tennessee doing what it needs to do in order to give itself a chance to win. And that has meant keeping the ball on the ground with the three-headed, run-game snake of quarterback Joshua Dobbs and sophomore running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.
The Vols' passing game has been a work in progress — at times a frustrating work in progress, and DeBord doesn't deny that — but the running game has been reliable.
"We've been pretty effective running the ball, and our passing game has continued to improve, which that's what happens in a season, and it's what happens in training camp, too," DeBord said.
Both facets of Tennessee's offense should be tested in a big way Saturday, when the Vols (2-1, 0-0 SEC) play at Eastern Division rival Florida (3-0, 1-0) in The Swamp.
Florida's defense is probably best known for its highly touted secondary, and rightfully so, but DeBord said he's been equally impressed by the Gators' front seven. Florida is seventh nationally in rushing defense, allowing just 55.3 yards per game and 1.9 yards per carry.
"We've got a really stiff challenge this week," DeBord said. "Florida has got a great defense. Up front, linebackers, secondary, all of it. It's gonna be a great challenge for us. Their aggressiveness, how they attack, and their speed, those would be the things that really stood out to me."
DeBord said his offense should benefit from playing a similarly-talented defense in Oklahoma, which came back late to stun the Vols in double-overtime two weeks ago in Neyland Stadium.
"They're a lot more ready for this than they would have been a couple weeks ago, and I think that's just the process you go through in the season," DeBord said. "We expect them to continue to improve as we go through the season. An example would be, you know, in the second game, we had some problems with protection and picking people up when we were trying to throw deep. Then in this past game, we picked 'em up twice in a blitz and hit the ball deep. They're continuing to get better with a lot of things.
"But playing against a great defense, you've got to know there's gonna be times where you have struggles, and you've got to be patient, and you've just got to keep grinding the ball. We've got to be patient both ways, throwing the ball and running the ball. I think that's what (playing Oklahoma) taught us, more than anything."
