Tennessee football took care of business against Arkansas Saturday afternoon knocking off the Razorbacks 34-31 at Neyland Stadium. The Vols jumped out to a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter and survived after Arkansas made a late push to nearly tie the game.
If you need a reminder on how Pro Football Focus works, read the opening of the Syracuse grades.
Let’s see how the Vols graded out.
Elite grade = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >
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Offensive Grades (minimum 13 plays — 20% of offensive plays)
QB Joey Aguilar — 90.0 (66 plays)
RB DeSean Bishop — 83.1 (31 plays)
RB Peyton Lewis — 81.8 (17 plays)
WR Braylon Staley — 80.3 (48 plays)
RG Wendell Moe — 77.2 (67 plays)
RT Jesse Perry — 66.9 (45 plays)
LT Lance Heard — 63.8 (67 plays)
LG Sham Umarov — 62.8 (67 plays)
C Sam Pendleton — 62.8 (47 plays)
TE Miles Kitselman — 62.8 (57 plays)
WR Mike Matthews — 62.4 (66 plays)
RB Star Thomas — 62.2 (19 plays)
C William Satterwhite — 53.0 (19 plays)
WR Chris Brazzell — 51.5 (64 plays)
RT David Sanders — 50.2 (22 plays)
TE Jack Van Dorselaer — 43.6 (31 plays)
Tennessee rotated some at offensive line really for the first time all season with David Sanders splitting some time with Jesse Perry at right tackle and William Satterwhite splitting some time with Same Pendleton at center. Neither Sanders nor Satterwhite graded out well according to PFF though both graded out solid in pass protection and very poorly in run blocking.
Both DeSean Bishop and Peyton Lewis had strong games. Bishop was rolling before suffering a third quarter injury while Lewis stepped up and played his best game of his career, taking advantage of additional snaps after Bishop went down.
Interestingly, Tennessee’s receiver grades completely matched the stat sheet. I though Brazzell might grade out a bit higher with Josh Heupel and Joey Aguilar talking about how Arkansas shifted coverage to try and take him out of the game.
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Defensive Grades (minimum 15 plays — 20% of defensive plays)
LEO Josh Josephs — 87.0 (36 plays)
LEO Jordan Ross — 81.7 (29 plays)
DE Dominic Bailey — 74.4 (35 plays)
LEO Caleb Herring — 66.2 (32 plays)
S Edrees Farooq — 65.6 (65 plays)
LB Jeremiah Telander — 65.6 (42 plays)
DT Jaxson Moi — 64.8 (40 plays)
DT Daevin Hobbs — 64.4 (34 plays)
DT Bryson Eason — 64.3 (39 plays)
CB Ty Redmond — 64.0 (65 plays)
DE Tyre West — 61.8 (24 plays)
CB Colton Hood — 61.5 (76 plays)
LB Arion Carter — 61.4 (65 plays)
STAR Jalen McMurray — 59.5 (39 plays)
DT Nathan Robinson — 59.1 (20 plays)
S Andre Turrentine — 57.6 (77 plays)
STAR Boo Carter — 57.2 (35 plays)
DE Tyree Weathersby — 56.9 (22 plays)
LB Edwin Spillman — 43.9 (36 plays)
Tennessee’s four highest graded defensive players were all edge rushers which completely checked out. The Vols pass rush had a nice day while the rest of the defense largely struggled. Josephs and Ross were both particularly disruptive rushing the passer.
I was surprised that Colton Hood, Jalen McMurray and Boo Carter graded out as poorly as they did. Not that they all played a great game, but I thought they were pretty solid.
Lastly, a look at a few players who didn’t quite play enough snaps to qualify in this game. LB Jadon Perlotte earned an 82.3 grade in nine snaps while S Sidney Walton earned a 60.9 grade in 13 plays. Kaleb Beasley did not play a single defensive snap in this game.
