Defensive Line
The defensive line initially took a step back from last year to start this season, but they found their tenacity to close out the year and salvaged what was looking like a really disappointing season from the group. It took sophomore defensive end Derek Barnett six weeks to get his second sack of the season, but he went on a tear after that. From the Georgia game on, Barnett earned a sack in 7 of the last 8 games of the season, giving him 10 on the year to go along with 12.5 tackles for a loss. Corey Vereen also came on strong to finish the season, and LaTroy Lewis and Owen Williams added good numbers as well.
This unit was hurt the most by injuries on the defensive side of the ball, as All-SEC defensive end/linebacker Curt Maggitt missed essentially the entire season with injury, freshman defensive tackle Shy Tuttle missed significant time, and heralded freshman defensive end Kyle Phillps missed about half the season as well. Freshman tackle Kahlil McKenzie finished well but didn’t have much of an impact early on, and the line as a whole struggled to tackle consistently early in the season. But the unit finished very strong and really helped give Tennessee’s defense some life.
Final Grades:
Daniel: B
Nathanael: B
Stephen: B+
Average Grade: B
