Grading the Vols at midseason,
KNOXVILLE — Midway through the college football regular season, Tennessee is 3-3. Top-ranked Alabama comes to Neyland Stadium on Saturday, but the schedule gets easier from there. With the Volunteers fighting for bowl eligibility, here are beat writer David Cobb’s position grades for the team through the first six games of the Jeremy Pruitt era: QUARTERBACK A-MINUS Jarrett Guarantano’s combination of accuracy and yards per attempt is on historic pace. Through six games, he is completing 64 percent of his passes for 9.03 yards per attempt. No Tennessee passer since Johnny Majors in 1956 has finished a season with a completion rate of 60 percent or better and an average of more than 9 yards per attempt. RUNNING BACKS B All four of Tennessee’s running backs have made plays at various points this season. As of late, sophomore Ty Chandler has emerged as the group’s top playmaker. His receiving skills have diversified the offense and mitigated some of the team’s inability to run between the tackles. RECEIVERS A-MINUS This group flashed its potential against Auburn with big play after big play. The Vols could use a little more in the passing game from starting tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson. Overall, the receivers have done their part to make Tennessee’s passing game a true threat. OFFENSIVE LINE C-MINUS Reality is that the offensive line has been subpar this season, and it’s a large part of why the Vols fell behind so quickly in losses to West Virginia and Florida. Chalk it up to youth, players in new positions or injuries, but the Vols need more from this group if they are going to reach six wins. DEFENSIVE LINE B Former five-star prospects Shy Tuttle and Kyle Phillip are making the most of the ending to careers defined by adversity. Their consistency, along with the emergence of Alexis Johnson Jr. and Emmit Gooden has made Tennessee’s defensive line formidable. LINEBACKERS B-MINUS The inside linebacker play of Daniel Bituli and Darrin Kirkland Jr. has been consistent but not overwhelming. Outside linebacker contributions have fluctuated more. Darrell Taylor had a big game against Georgia, but this unit also has been MIA at times. Losing Jonathan Kongbo for the season means a bigger role for promising sophomore Deandre Johnson. SECONDARY B The secondary was a clear weakness in the season-opening loss to West Virginia. But head coach Jeremy Pruitt has managed to craft a unit with three freshmen playing key roles into a serviceable unit. Hold on, though, because playing Alabama this week could quickly change the narrative on this group. SPECIAL TEAMS B-PLUS Redshirt freshman Joe Doyle won the punting job and has been fairly precise with his kicks this season. He beat Paxton Brooks for the job, but Brooks has proven valuable as a kickoff specialist. The Vols haven’t gotten much from their return game. Sophomore place-kicker Brent Cimaglia is quietly putting together a great year. COACHING B Holding the coaches back from a better rating is the disastrous Florida loss. Pruitt took ownership of the miserable defeat and should be lauded for the improvement his team has shown since. But the grace period for such an embarrassing home loss to a rival expires after year one.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.