The Tennessee Volunteers have come up with 2 of the most impressive wins of the season in the FBS, a 26-10 point pounding of Alabama and last weekend’s 34-6 drubbing of Kentucky. Both teams were in the top 6 of the initial College Football Playoff Rankings.
But despite the Vols being 7-2 with those 2 victories, and despite Tennessee’s 2 losses each coming by a field goal against teams currently in the top 20 of those rankings, the Vols probably have to win out to make the field of 12.
The Fearless Prediction knows how difficult it can be to win on the road in the SEC but will readily accept the challenge to make the correct call in Saturday’s Tennessee-Texas A&M game.
This will only be the second time that the Vols have made a trip to College Station. Back in 2016, they lost at Texas A&M in double overtime, 45-38, in a game best remembered for Tennessee RB Alvin Kamara’s dominating performance. He had 18 carries for 127 yards and 2 TDs to go with 8 catches for 161 yards and a TD. It was the only game in Kamara’s 2 seasons in Knoxville in which he was the focal point of the UT offense.
If that doesn’t summarize the missed opportunities of the Butch Jones era, nothing will.
Fast forwarding to today, Tennessee’s offense might not have a Kamara, but it does have a Bishop. The Vols’ senior RB, DeSean Bishop, already has 1,066 rushing yards this season, and now stands 426 yards away from breaking Dylan Sampson’s single-season rushing record of 1,491 rushing yards. Bishop (and Tennessee’s offensive line) gets better as the game continues, and that certainly helps the cause with youth at QB.
Redshirt freshman George MacIntyre completed 9-of-14 passes for 125 yards against UK, but more importantly he didn’t throw an interception and he didn’t fumble. But Josh Heupel added a wrinkle to the QB position, with true freshman Faizon Brandon (remember him?) seeing his first action since being pulled in the Auburn game a month ago. Brandon only took a couple of snaps. One in a single wing formation that resulted in a 29-yard run, and one a beautifully designed play in which Brandon tossed the football approximately 5 centimeters forward to Mike Matthews for what counts as a 24-yard TD pass.
Heupel has now given opposing defensive coordinators more reason for concern the rest of the season, not knowing what else Heupel will come up with that Brandon package.
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Defensively, Tennessee continues to impress. It kept Kentucky out of the end zone for 60 minutes. It sacked UK QB Kenny Minchey 4 times while forcing 3 turnovers against a team that rarely coughed up the football.
Tennessee is tied for 10th nationally in scoring defense (allowing 15.1 points per game), 18th in total defense (296.4 yards per game), and leads the nation in sacks with 39. LB Arion Carter is tops on the Vols in tackles with 59. DT Xavier Gilliam has a team-best 11.5 tackles for loss.
As for Texas A&M, a season that began with so much promise has devolved into depression. The Aggies have lost 5 of their last 7 games, including a 17-9 defeat at South Carolina last weekend. They are 1-5 in SEC play.
Mike Elko, now in his 3rd year as Texas A&M’s head coach, has stuck with QB Marcel Reed, despite middling results. Reed throws for 182.3 yards per game, but his TD-to-INT ratio of 8:8 is not ideal. Rueben Owens II and K.J. Edwards combine to average 96.2 rushing yards per game. Mario Craver and Isaiah Horton are Reed’s best options in the passing game, combining for 62 catches, 703 yards and 6 scores this season.
Overall, the Aggies are only ranked 91st in the FBS in total offense, with 359.2 yards per game.
The Aggies’ defense will be a challenge for the Vols. ETSU and Tulsa transfer LB Ray Coney leads the team with 46 tackles. As a unit, they allow 320 yards per game, good enough to be ranked 28th nationally, while allowing only 18.7 points per game, 22nd in the FBS.
Next week the Vols welcome Lane Kiffin and LSU back to Neyland Stadium. The Fearless Prediction will have a lot to say about that soon, but we aren’t looking ahead. Tennessee better not either.
And it won’t. Kyle Field might be a tough place to play… but a lot of teams do win there.
You’ll be able to add Tennessee to that list.
Fearless Prediction: Tennessee 24, Texas A&M 13
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Mark Nagi has covered Tennessee athletics for over 20 years. He is the author of “Decade of Dysfunction,” an in-depth look at all that led to the crazy coaching search of 2017 at Tennessee. The book is available on Amazon.
