Tim Jordan forced the most missed tackles of any running back in week one

It wasn’t quite what we envisioned all summer long, but the Tennessee ground game did plenty of positive things on Saturday against West Virginia. It just came from a guy that really wasn’t at the front of our radar. It was sophomore back Tim Jordan handling the load for Tennessee.

Jordan got the bulk of the work after Ty Chandler went down, turning 20 carries into 118 yards and a touchdown. Jordan ran angry — almost John Kelly-like. You could tell that by simply watching the game, but that notion was backed up by the staff at Pro Football Focus.

According to their charting, Jordan forced 12 (!!) missed tackles on Saturday. That number was good enough for first place in that category for the entire week one of college football.

If you think Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt was satisfied with that performance, guess again. During his weekly TV show, Pruitt broke down what he saw from Jordan.

“Tim makes a great run, but if you look at it from the back end, he should have hit the ball in the A-gap,” Pruitt said. “Right there, you see that A-gap. Right up the hash. We don’t block those two guys out there. He’ll learn.”

Our own Power T Tape found what Pruitt was talking about and illustrated what Pruitt was saying.

You can’t argue with the results though. Jordan ran powerful and was the key cog in the Tennessee offense. It’s going to be interesting to see how the snaps are handled once Ty Chandler gets back to full health. Offensive coordinator Tyson Helton may just have a true stable of backs to use this season.