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There's a lot of movement in a lot of statistical categories early in the season, and not a lot of it means much, but here are the Tennessee Volunteers' current rankings in the NCAA's major stat categories after Week Two.
What Tennessee is currently doing well
Categories in which Tennessee is in the Top 30 | |||||||
Category | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
2014 |
2015 | App. St. | VT |
Blocked Kicks Allowed | 1 |
28 | 1 | 1 | |||
Blocked Punts Allowed | 1 | 64 | 1 | 1 | |||
Fumbles Recovered | 71 | 113 | 29 | 78 | 81 | 1 | |
Red Zone Offense | 58 | 29 | 100 | 5 | 82 | 1 | 1 |
Kickoff Returns | 41 | 80 | 20 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
Turnovers Gained | 91 | 95 | 35 | 34 | 99 | 57 | 6 |
Turnover Margin | 59 | 88 | 54 | 53 | 50 | 74 | 14 |
Passing Yards Allowed | 12 | 111 | 27 | 22 | 57 | 17 | 29 |
Falling out of the Top 30 this week: Red Zone Defense, 3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense, Scoring Defense, Kickoff Return Defense, Passes Intercepted.
Not surprisingly, the Vols find themselves at the top of most of the turnover categories, courtesy of the Hokies. Passing Yards Allowed may be the only category that tells us much here, but even that comes largely against an App State team that doesn't like throwing the ball.
Tennessee fell out of the Top 30 in several categories, but with the possible exception of 3rd Down Conversion Percentage Defense, I wouldn't worry about it just yet.
Where Tennessee needs major improvement
Categories in which Tennessee is 90th or below | |||||||
Category | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | App. St. | VT |
Time of Possession | 37 | 116 | 91 | 51 | 56 | 94 | 91 |
Passing Yards per Completion | 115 | 116 | 87 | 64 | 96 | ||
First Downs Offense | 98 | 20 | 101 | 54 | 37 | 75 | 97 |
Rushing Defense | 69 | 85 | 100 | 65 | 49 | 94 | 97 |
Completion Percentage | 32 | 58 | 92 | 98 | |||
3rd Down Conversion Pct | 56 | 81 | 92 | 78 | 20 | 59 | 99 |
Punt Returns | 61 | 22 | 51 | 37 | 2 | 86 | 99 |
4th Down Conversion Pct | 91 | 80 | 76 | 26 | 6 | 73 | 101 |
Total Offense | 104 | 18 | 102 | 90 | 50 | 92 | 111 |
Passing Offense | 50 | 15 | 109 | 70 | 93 | 82 | 118 |
Punt Return Defense | 85 | 67 | 92 | 11 | 102 | 124 | 120 |
Getting out of the gutter this week: None.
I really don't like all of this red, and it is still too early to totally freak out, but being bad at first, third, and fourth down offense isn't sitting well. Rushing Defense, too, is concerning, even at this early stage. But mostly, the early signal is that we need to get our offense on track.
THE BIG FAT MIDDLE
Categories in which Tennessee is in the Middle of the Rankings | |||||||
Category | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | App. St. | VT |
Fumbles Lost | 6 | 28 | 24 | 37 | 46 | 58 | 35 |
Scoring Defense | 36 | 104 | 78 | 35 | 26 | 30 | 42 |
Team Tackles for Loss | 67 | 48 | 90 | 21 | 80 | 55 | 42 |
Red Zone Defense | 47 | 115 | 11 | 124 | 24 | 19 | 43 |
Net Punting | 104 | 52 | 28 | 36 | 30 | 60 | 51 |
Turnovers Lost | 20 | 58 | 87 | 61 | 13 | 66 | 53 |
Kickoff Return Defense | 7 | 47 | 118 | 23 | 15 | 30 | 55 |
3rd Down Conversion Pct Defense | 57 | 50 | 91 | 14 | 4 | 24 | 58 |
4th Down Conversion Pct Defense | 48 | 86 | 117 | 26 | 123 | 70 | 58 |
Fewest Penalties Per Game | 56 | 92 | 26 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 58 |
Total Defense | 28 | 107 | 83 | 36 | 46 | 48 | 60 |
First Downs Defense | 18 | 86 | 45 | 33 | 30 | 50 | 61 |
Scoring Offense | 106 | 22 | 94 | 62 | 36 | 88 | 61 |
Fewest Penalties | 13 | 17 | 53 | 63 | |||
Rushing Offense | 116 | 61 | 44 | 89 | 21 | 84 | 63 |
Passes Intercepted | 86 | 56 | 40 | 15 | 93 | 30 | 66 |
Sacks Allowed | 40 | 5 | 21 | 117 | 51 | 58 | 66 |
Passes Had Intercepted | 63 | 83 | 107 | 84 | 7 | 65 | 70 |
Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game | 51 | 67 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 62 | 71 |
Tackles for Loss Allowed | 38 | 9 | 37 | 122 | 107 | 46 | 71 |
Fewest Penalty Yards | 9 | 6 | 63 | 72 | |||
Team Passing Efficiency Defense | 58 | 24 | 35 | 61 | 78 | ||
Team Sacks | 100 | 98 | 99 | 29 | 56 | 79 | |
Team Passing Efficiency | 69 | 31 | 111 | 70 | 57 | 86 | 85 |
Blocked Kicks | 70 | 41 |
I think this is the fattest Big Fat Middle we've seen in a long time. Time to get things rolling, boys.
Players in the Top 30
Woo, Josh Malone. And high fives to Micah Abernathy for "covering down" and getting a season's worth of fumbles all in one game. I will note that Abernathy was one of the guys I mentioned in our first podcast when Will asked us to identify the player we weren't yet talking enough about, so selfie high five for me. (Note: Selfie high-fives look really stupid. You just tried it, didn't you?)
Player | Stat | 2015 | App St. | VT |
Micah Abernathy | Fumbles Recovered | 1 | ||
Josh Malone | Yards per Reception | 2 | 6 | |
Corey Vereen | Fumbles Recovered | 11 | ||
Trevor Daniel | Punting | 6 | 3 | 13 |
Kendall Vickers | Forced Fumbles | 19 | ||
Todd Kelly, Jr. | Forced Fumbles | 19 | ||
Josh Malone | Receiving TDs | 24 | ||
Cameron Sutton | Total Interceptions | 8 | 25 | |
Aaron Medley | Field Goals Per Game | 14 | 15 | 25 |
Joshua Dobbs | Points Responsible For | 27 | ||
Cameron Sutton | Interceptions Per Game | 8 | 28 | |
Jalen Hurd | Rushing Yards | 29 | 28 | |
Jalen Hurd | Rushing Yards Per Game | 30 | ||
Joshua Dobbs | Points Responsible For Per Game | 30 | ||
Aaron Medley | Field Goal Percentage | 1 | ||
Cameron Sutton | Punt Returns | 1 | ||
Evan Berry | Kickoff Return TDs | 1 | ||
Evan Berry | Kickoff Returns | 1 | ||
Cameron Sutton | Punt Return TDs | 2 | ||
Alvin Kamara | Punt Return TDs | 12 | ||
Evan Berry | Combined Kick Returns | 13 | ||
Aaron Medley | Scoring | 23 | ||
Jalen Reeves-Maybin | Fumbles Recovered | 23 |