Former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy gave his honest thoughts on Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar during Wednesday morning’s episode of the McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning radio program on WJOX in Birmingham, AL. McElroy’s comments come before he calls this weekend’s Third Saturday in October matchup alongside Sean McDonough on ABC.
“I am not the biggest fan of Joey Aguilar, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen,” McElroy said as the hosts broke down Tennessee’s run game. “And I think he’s done a good enough job. He’s not a real threat as a runner, which does make things a little bit easier. Last year, Nico Iamaleava was always a threat to run, which is a problem. However, Nico Iamaleava, not really ever a threat to hit anything downfield. So, if you get beat over the top, no problem.”
McElroy believes that Alabama matches up “pretty well” against Tennessee’s offense, but does note some ways that the Vols can exploit a few things.
“I think Bama matches up pretty well,” McElroy said. “If you want me to be honest, I think they match up pretty well. But I also think, Tennessee, if they get a beat in the alleys and they’re running in the alleys, which is where I would attack Bama, that’s when things can become real problematic. I also don’t know, who is the pass rusher that would scare me if I were Tennessee? That I need to be aware of if I were Tennessee?”
Through six games this season, no quarterback has more passing yards in the SEC than Joey Aguilar at 1,680. Aguilar and the Vols’ wide receiver room have also had nice synergy this season, with both groups making each other better. Despite not having the five-star quarterback like last year, Tennessee’s passing game has found much more explosivity and consistency with Aguilar at the helm this year.
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Prior to giving his take on Aguilar, McElroy and Cubelic discussed the elements of Josh Heupel’s offense against Nick Saban’s past defenses and Kane Wommack’s current defenses. McElroy was asked whether he thinks Alabama’s current style is better or worse suited for Heupel’s current offense.
“That’s a great question,” McElroy said. “Because I want to say I like it more because it’s simpler. There’s less communication. And against the tempo, I think that’s always a value. So, I’d say more, but I also get a little bit concerned about how involved the safeties are going to have to be, and have been the last couple weeks in run support. And how you’re going, naturally in run support, leave a couple guys on islands on the outside against quality personnel at wide receiver. That’s the only thing that I think makes me a little uncomfortable about the whole deal.”
McElroy went on to share his thoughts on Tennessee’s offense as a whole.
“If you look at Tennessee, for example, they’re 12% motion,” McElroy said. “It’s one of the lowest rates in the country. So they play a tempo and they don’t have a lot of oddball formations. It’s pretty simple. They do get in some condensed stuff, they do build some bunches, but it’s mostly on third down. You can kind of see it coming. They don’t have a ton of options. They basically create a lot of picks and rubs. It’s a very simple system. But I do think, against Nico Saban’s style, it was a little more challenging on a defense like that.”
Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic continue to preview their thoughts on this weekend’s Tennessee-Alabama game during the first hour of Wednesday morning’s show, which you can find in podcast form here.
No. 6 Alabama will host No. 11 Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for coverage leading up to and at the event this weekend.
