For years, Tennessee’s football identity was as a run first team. Coach Phil Fulmer, always an offensive lineman at heart, loved it when he could assert his team’s will on the ground.

Times change and programs evolve, but when the Vols have been at their best, they’ve had a bruising offensive line and running backs who can extend drives and change the course of a game.

Think 1998 when the Vols went 13-0 despite losing Jamal Lewis to a torn ACL early in the year. Travis Henry and Travis Stephens picked up the slack.

Think 2004 when the Vols won 10 games with Gerald Riggs and Cedric Houston each rushing for 1,000 yards, carrying a team that made it to the SEC title game with a 3rd string quarterback.

Now it’s 2021 and Tennessee’s season is 5 games old. There’s enough evidence to have a pretty good idea of what this team is … and is not. And they need to stick with what’s working. Like their predecessors of yesteryear, this team is at its best when they can move the football on the ground.

Against Missouri, the Vols had a historic afternoon, gaining an astounding 458 rushing yards. They did this without the services of starting center Cooper Mays, who didn’t dress due to injury.

Their 62 points against the Tigers was the highest total for a Tennessee team on the road in the SEC since a 65-0 win over Vanderbilt back in 1994.

At one point in the third quarter, the Vols were averaging over 12 yards per carry; they finished at 7.8 yards per attempt. Missouri’s run defense entered that game as one of the worst in college football, so it wasn’t a surprise that Tennessee exploited that weakness. But nobody expected that level of dominance.

The Vols had Hendon Hooker back at quarterback against Mizzou, after he was knocked out in the closing stages of the 4th quarter against Florida. Hooker picked up 80 yards on the ground, second only to Tiyon Evans’ 156.

“This was really the first time we’ve played together for 4 quarters as a team,” Evans said. “If we can continue to do that, we can continue to have great outcomes.”

Hooker is more willing to run and certainly more effective using his feet than Joe Milton. This offense looks better with Hooker under center, thanks in part to his rushing ability.

Against Missouri, Hooker threw the football 19 times. As a team, the Vols had 59 rushing attempts. Many teams stress the importance of offensive balance, but if the Vols are throwing the football 25-30 times a game, things probably aren’t going well.

Tennessee has already rushed for 15 scores this season. That already matches the best in any season under Pruitt. The 2021 Vols have at least 7 more games to add to that total.

“We were cleaner inside and on the edges,” coach Josh Heupel after the Missouri game. “When you do that you give your running backs more space … understanding the scheme and where it was being blocked and where to press it … and we were able to create some big explosive plays, too.  Our guys on the perimeter were doing a good job in the run game blocking too to allow some of those big runs down the football field.”

Opposing defenses will certainly examine the film from the Missouri game and try to find ways to limit the Vols’ ground attack going forward. Their mission will be to make Tennessee beat them through the air. Vols receivers made 3 touchdown catches against Missouri, but this team is not nearly as comfortable when forced to throw.

Tennessee might not operate the veer, but this is a run-first team.

If they continue to embrace that philosophy, more victories could be on the horizon.