Continuing to refocus on the process of becoming a good program again. Here's a list of things Tennessee's doing well as of this week:
| Categories In Which Tennessee Is In The Top Quarter |
|
| Category | Ranking |
| Fewest Yards Penalized Per Game | 11th |
| Kickoff Return Yardage Defense | 21st |
Unfortunately, that's two fewer things in the top quartile than last week. Everything dropped a bit, and Fumbles Lost and Fewest Penalties Per Game fell right out of the top 30.
How about individual players ranked in the top 50? Also down from four to two:
| Player | Ranking | Stat |
| Marsalis Teague | 40th | Passes Defended |
| Chad Cunningham | 29th | Punting |
Nick Reveiz fell out of the top 50 in total tackles, and Tauren Poole fell out in rushing.
Now on to what we'll euphemistically call Tennessee's greatest opportunities for improvement. After the jump.
|
Categories In Which Tennessee |
|||
| Category | Ranking | Last Week | Better? |
| Red Zone Efficiency | 118th | 116th | N |
| Pass Sacks Allowed | 118th | 106th | N |
| Tackles for Loss Allowed | 116th | 102nd | N |
| Offense Third Down Efficiency | 110th | 115th | Y |
| Punt Returns | 108th | 104th | N |
| First Downs | 108th | 111th | Y |
| Offense Fourth Down Efficiency | 108th | 114th | Y |
| Kickoff Returns | 102nd | 101st | N |
| Pass Sacks | 98th | 106th | Y |
| Rushing Offense | 96th | 91st | N |
| Time of Possession | 95th | 104th | Y |
| Turnover Margin | 94th | - | N |
| Scoring Offense | 93rd | 94th | Y |
| Scoring Defense | 93rd | - | N |
| Turnovers Gained | 91st | - | N |
| Total Offense | 90th | 95th | Y |
| Pass Defense | 90th | 95th | Y |
| Passing Efficiency | - | 92nd | Y |
So against a top 25 team in the categories in which we've been performing most poorly, the team improved in nine categories and got worse in nine categories. Which just bolsters my theory that for a young, rebuilding venture, squeezing the balloon in one spot just makes it expand in another.
But we'll get there. Hopefully, we'll see most things improve this week and throughout the month of November.