Tennessee football returns to Neyland Stadium for its final game of the 2023 regular season on Saturday afternoon. The Vols host instate rival Vanderbilt and are looking to earn a Senior Day win to improve to 8-4 on the season.
Here’s three keys for Tennessee to take care of business against Vanderbilt and have a productive Saturday.
Run The Football
It’s pretty simple for Tennessee’s offense at this point. If they can line up and run it right at opponents then they’re going to have plenty of offensive success. If they can’t lean on their run game, the offense as a whole is going to struggle.
That’s the reality for the Vols’ offense and the bad news is that they’re down their best run blocker Javontez Spraggins for this matchup. They could be down two other starting offensive linemen too against the Commodores.
The good news is Vanderbilt is pretty putrid against the run. The Commodores rank last in the SEC allowing 176 rushing yards per game this season. With Joe Milton III making his first start last season, Tennessee ran for 362 yards on over 10 yards per carry.
Expect a heavy dose of carries for Jaylen Wright, Dylan Sampson and Jabari Small. If the Vols run the ball the way they’re capable, Vanderbilt has little hope in this one.
More From RTI: How To Watch Tennessee’s Regular Season Finale Against Vanderbilt
Improved Third Down Defense
It’ been two very bad weeks for Tennessee’s third down defense. In losses against Missouri and Georgia, the Vols’ defense gave up 20-of-30 third down attempts.
There were, obviously, breakdowns and mistakes on third downs but the issues really start with the way both Missouri and Georgia were able to avoid third and long. Both teams ran the ball effectively against the Vols and lived in third-and-intermediate.
Just like Tennessee needs to run the ball well, they need to take away the Commodores run game and forced Vanderbilt to beat them in third-and-long. That sets up Tennessee’s strong pass rush to pin its ears back and go after whoever ends up starting at quarterback for Vanderbilt.
If Tennessee can get off the field on third down at a more efficient rate than they’ll have success against a Vanderbilt offense that struggles to create junk plays.
Get As Many Snaps For Nico Iamaleava As Possible
Okay, maybe this isn’t as much a key to win. Tennessee should be able to win this game relatively easy with Joe Milton III or Iamaleava behind center. But for Tennessee to feel good leaving a game where they’re 27-point favorites, they need to get their talented freshman as many reps as possible.
Why?
Because this season is already a wash. Tennessee fell far short of any of its goals and while there is definitely importance in not bottoming out— which the Vols haven’t done— the season feels more beneficial moving into next year if the Vols get their future starting quarterback playing time.
To this point in the season, Tennessee hasn’t gotten Iamaleava very much playing time. But they’ve already secured a redshirt for the five-star freshman and the regular season finale and bowl game should be about getting him valuable reps entering next season.
We’ll see if Josh Heupel and his staff treat it that way.
