BRISTOL, Tenn. — Bob Shoop has already paid dividends in his first two games at Tennessee.

When the Volunteers’ offense was not in full sync in the opening game against Appalachian State, Shoop’s defense answered the call by shutting out the Mountaineers for the final 2 1/2 quarters.

The Tennessee offense was better in Week 2, beating Virginia Tech 45-24. With the offense being better and more productive, it shows how hand-in-hand Shoop’s defense can be with the offense when it is clicking. The Vols are a dangerous team when all three phases of the game, offense, defense and special teams are in sync.

Tennessee’s defense, once again, found themselves in a hole early, down 14-0 to the Hokies.

But in a repeat of the Appalachian State performance, nobody panicked.

“It was really just about settling in,” linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said following the Battle at Bristol. “A lot of those plays that they hit on us in the first quarter were our mistake and I feel like we weren’t settled into the game in the first quarter and once we settled in we played really great defense.”

Part of making defensive plays resulted in creating turnovers, tackles for loss and sacks.

Shoop’s defense had five fumble recoveries (forcing two), eight tackles for a loss (-25 yards total) and three sacks.

“Being disruptive and trying to make plays on the ball is something we speak about every day,” defensive back Cam Sutton said. “When we get opportunities, we have to capitalize on them. When you have guys swarming around to the ball, good things happen for you. We were swarming tonight. With the opportunities we had, we made the most of them.”

Heading into Week 3 against Ohio will be another key test for the Tennessee defense to keep improving before hosting Florida on Sept. 24. – a critical game for the Vols’ SEC title hopes.

Consistency is the key heading into the Florida game – and defensive back Micah Abernathy knows it.

“Looking at Week 1 and Week 2 I was just trying to be consistent on the field,” Abernathy said. “We were just flying to the ball and TK (Todd Kelly, Jr.) had a big hit and so did Vickers. We were just flying to the ball and that is something that we stress in practice and we tried to do it in the game”