When Tennessee football’s trio of wide receivers are playing like they did this past Saturday against Kentucky… good luck. While a good bit of it was inefficiencies from the Wildcats, the Vols’ receivers took advantage of every little crack in the defense. The result was 396 yards through the air, and all three receivers going for over 100 yards.
Leading the way was Chris Brazzell. Despite coming down with just four catches, he totalled 138 yards and a touchdown. Mike Matthews also found the end zone, grabbing a touchdown en route to a six-reception, 107-yard game. Braylon Staley was just behind him with 105 yards on six catches, as well.
Getting production from all three options creates an unsolvable problem for defenses. With Brazzell’s dominant start to the year, particularly on deep balls, teams began to bracket him and give additional help in his direction. All that did was open up Staley over the middle for a stretch of dominant games.
If you go back to trying to limit Staley and Matthews, then the deep ball is right back in the mix with Brazzell.
“It opened up a lot for me and Mike because teams are going to try to bracket him, now,” Staley said. “It opened the middle up. Try to bracket the middle, now it opens the outside up. You got to pick your poison to be honest.”
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Next, Tennessee hosts a good defense in Oklahoma. The Sooners rank as one of the better units in the country, but proved to be a bit vulnerable last week against Ole Miss. Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a touchdown on 24-of-44 passing.
Oklahoma’s defense is miles better than Kentucky’s, but there should be some opportunities to strike through the air. With how well the Vols’ receivers are playing, it could be the difference in the game.
“They’ve got really good players,” Sooners head coach Brent Venables said. “(Josh Heupel) puts them in positions schematically to execute at a high level. He’s a really good game-day caller. Certainly, I think he’d be the first one to tell you, from where he was 15 years ago, he certainly has, I think good coaches are willing to always look for new ways to do things in their system. Continue to evolve. Nothing ever stays the same. He’s done a really good job of trying to stay in front of the what’s next of his philosophy and within his system.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET and will air on ABC. The loser is handed its third loss of the season and will be essentially eliminated from playoff contention. The winner stays alive, though will likely have to win out to earn a spot.
