Photo via Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee football hosted top-ranked Texas on Saturday afternoon, but couldn’t pull out a win. Instead, behind a weak offensive showing and strong defense, the Vols lost 20-17.
Now, on Sunday morning, PFF has finalized its game grades for Tennessee’s offensive and defensive participants. Here’s how the team graded out.
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Offense – 81 snaps
LG Wendell Moe Jr. – 66.7 (4 snaps)
WR Mike Matthews – 66.1 (73)
RB Daune Morris – 65.4 (29)
LT David Sanders Jr. – 65.1 (81)
RG Donovan Haslam – 63.3 (77)
WR Braylon Staley – 62.5 (78)
RT Ory Williams – 60.7 (4)
TE Trent Thomas – 59.1 (33)
RB DeSean Bishop – 58.2 (52)
C Sam Pendleton – 58.0 (81)
LG/RG Sham Umarov – 57.6 (77)
RT/LG Jesse Perry – 57.5 (81)
WR TK Keys – 55.3 (6)
TE Dasaahn Brame – 54.9 (54)
WR Travis Smith Jr. – 54.2 (10)
QB George MacIntyre – 51.1 (6)
WR Radarious Jackson – 47.7 (70)
QB Faizon Brandon – 40.7 (75)
Offensively, it’s easy to start at the bottom. Quarterback Faizon Brandon had the worst grade on the team at 40.7. PFF gave him a brutal 31.1 mark in the pass game, but a passable grade of 64.1 as a runner. You also look at where the offensive line is scattered throughout, and it suggests that PFF is placing more of the blame on the quarterback than the offensive line for the 10 sacks, which is debatable.
The highest-graded Vol was Wendell Moe Jr., but he only played four snaps at left guard before suffering an injury and not returning. Behind him was wide receiver Mike Matthews at 66.1. Then, it goes running back Daune Morris before the top offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. clocks in.
The next best lineman is Donovan Haslam at 63.3. There were questions about how he’d be able to perform for the entirety of games, but he passed the eye test, and PFF agreed he performed at an above-average level throughout. Even if Tennessee is fully healthy, it may be tough not to insert Haslam as a starter going forward.
If you’re curious about how Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons graded, who had five sacks, he was at an 89.3 grade and 91.3 as a pass rusher.
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Defense – 58 snaps
LB Arion Carter – 77.3 (58 snaps)
CB Kayin Lee – 76.1 (58)
DT Xavier Gilliam – 73.9 (39)
LB/DE Jeremiah Telander – 70.3 (37)
DL Carson Gentle – 69.2 (16)
DE Mariyon Dye – 68.9 (31)
DT Daevin Hobbs – 68.2 (26)
DE Tyree Weathersby – 67.5 (30)
LB Edwin Spillman – 67.0 (10)
LB Amare Campbell – 67.0 (58)
CB Ty Redmond – 66.7 (58)
DE Jordan Norman – 64.2 (25)
DT Isaiah Campbell – 61.7 (5)
NB Tevis Metcalf – 61.1 (11)
DT Ethan Utley – 60.0 (1)
DT JJ Finch – 55.8 (20)
S Dejuan Lane – 52.9 (58)
S TJ Metcalf – 51.7 (58)
NB Qua Moss – 45.7 (40)
It makes a lot of sense that Arion Carter was the highest-graded Vol on either side of the ball. He was fantastic throughout the game and is really settling in as seemingly one of the top linebackers in the sport. Carter graded well as a run stopper, tackler, in pass coverage and in pass rush. He blitzed on eight snaps.
Kayin Lee also had a really nice day, which his interception certainly helped. He had tough tasks on Texas’ receivers, including his former teammate Cam Coleman, but did a really nice job. His only weak point was as a tackler.
The worst three grades being the back end of UT’s secondary is interesting, though. Nickelback Qua Moss was the worst graded, then the safeties TJ Metcalf and Dejuan Lane.
The snap counts are also fascinating. Arion Carter and Amare Campbell played every single snap at linebacker. Jeremiah Telander also played 37 snaps in his hybrid role, and Edwin Spillman got on the field for only 10 snaps. Jadon Perlotte continues to not be a factor in the rotation.
On the defensive line, freshman JJ Finch played 20 snaps. That was more than double that of sophomores Isaiah Campbell and Ethan Utley combined.