COLUMBIA — Tennessee opened the 2020 season by defeating South Carolina, 31-27, at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The victory extended Tennessee’s win streak to seven consecutive games. Following a Week 1 win over the Gamecocks, Vols Wire looks at how Tennessee can improve going into its second contest of 2020 against Missouri.
One area that Tennessee can improve on is in the running game. The Vols totaled 394 yards at South Carolina, as 133 came on the ground.
Against South Carolina, Vols’ offensive coordinator Jim Chaney did a good job disguising 10-personnel for 11-personnel, and 11-personnel for 12-personnel. This helped Tennessee’s running game throughout the contest since the Vols were unable to establish consistency on the ground in a true 10-personnel grouping against South Carolina’s defense.
To have a consistent offense this season in a 10-game SEC-only schedule, the Vols will need to be able to run the ball with a true 10-personnel grouping going forward.
Against South Carolina, Chaney did a good job trying to establish a running game with a 10-personnel grouping in the second half.
He opened the third quarter by running the ball in 11-personnel with Ty Chandler three consecutive times. He then opened the passing game with a 10-yard completion to Josh Palmer in an 11-personnel, trips-right formation.
Chaney then flipped to trips-left in 10-personnel, and the result was an 11-yard run by Chandler. Chaney, again, went back to trips-left in 10-personnel and Chandler rushed for four more yards. His play-calling set up quarterback Jarrett Guarantano to rush for 19-yards, again in 11-personnel with tight end Jacob Warren in a passing route. The end result of Tennessee’s second-half opening drive was Eric Gray scoring on a 12-yard run in a trips-right, 11-personnel grouping that gave the Vols’ a 21-7 lead.
Tennessee ended the third quarter with back-to-back plays running in 10-personnel, again trying to establish a true ground game. Chaney started the fourth quarter in 10-personnel with Gray in pass-protection and then in an empty set on third down. The result was a Vols’ punt.
Chaney did an excellent job working with an offensive line unit that had an expectation of transfer Cade Mays playing upfront immediately. The second-year offensive coordinator under Pruitt was able to adapt in disguising looks upfront against South Carolina, but the Vols will have to get better running in 10-personnel throughout a 10-game SEC-only schedule this season. The second-half against South Carolina was apparent of this, as Chaney tried to establish offensive production on the ground in 10-personnel.