Tennessee's victory Saturday night over the Zips of Akron was nothing to write home about, to say the least. The game was sloppy, the fans were never emotionally invested in the game, and the Vols appeared to sleep walk through the entire first half. It took the Vols 30 minutes but they finally realized Terry Bowden's Akron squad had come to Knoxville with the full intention of pulling the upset. Coach Derek Dooley's team got their act together in the second half and pulled away from the Zips late to clinch a 47-26 win. But that's not to say the Vols don't have plenty to work on before the Georgia game this Saturday, because there are plenty of issues which need to be corrected.
Game MVP
A number of players had solid performances against Akron. Tyler Bray threw for over 400 yards with 4 touchdowns, Derrick Brodus hit all of his field goals, Justin Hunter had over 100 receiving yards with a touchdown, but to me, this week's MVP award has to go to Rajion Neal. Tennessee's coaches had been criticized all week for abandoning the run game against Florida last week while the Vols were in control of the game. This week, offensive coordinator Jim Chaney proved he was committed to the run game. As a team, the Vols ran the ball 45 times. Rajion Neal was awarded the bulk of the work load as he carried the pigskin 22 times for 151 yards. Neal also hauled in 3 passes for 22 yards and a touchdown.
Needs Improvement
Two areas of concern coming out of Saturday's game against Akron are ball security and drops by receivers. The Vols put the ball on the ground too many times against Akron. While they only lost 1 fumble, the Vols put the ball on the turf several other times. Whether we recovered our own fumble or our player's knee ended up being down, we simply are putting the ball on the ground too often. Sooner or later coughing up the ball is going to come back and bite us in the butt. We were very fortunate to only have one of our fumbles go the other way. Receiver drops is another area where the Vols need to tighten up. A handful of drops throughout the course of the game cost the Vols big plays, or ended up halting drives. Tennessee's receivers have to focus and squeeze the ball with two hands. Big time drops will not be acceptable once we get into the heart of the SEC schedule. Dropping a few balls against Akron is something you can get away with, but against Georgia next week, we have got to make sure to make all the catches we are supposed to make if we want to pull the upset on the road.
Want to See More
Tennessee ran the ball effectively out of its wildcat package last night against Akron. It is something offensive coordinator Jim Chaney should continue to tinker with, and use when he feels the time is right. Down around the goal line, A.J. Johnson is almost a sure thing to punch the ball into the end zone. He has scored two times this season out of this package, and I am not sure anyone would be able to stop him when the Vols are knocking on the door. Justin King has also looked very impressive running the wildcat. He only carried the ball once last night, but gained 18 yards on the play and faked the pitch on the option very well. Two players I can't wait to see more of in the weeks ahead are receivers Alton "Pig" Howard and Jacob Carter. Howard made a very impressive catch early in the game which moved Tennessee deep into the Zip's territory. He also garnered a carry out of the wildcat formation. Alton is extremely quick and shifty, and I believe lining him up in the wildcat will allow him to showcase his true potential on the field. Jacob Carter is another player I hope to see more of this year. The former walk-on has caught everything thrown his way this year, and finally broke into the end zone late against the Zips last night. If Tennessee's other receivers continue to drop the ball in critical situations, expect to see the Volunteer coaches use Mr. Carter more and more each week.
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