3 Takeaways from Tennessee vs. Virginia

The Vols opened the season Saturday with a comfortable 49–13 victory over the Virginia Cavaliers. After a sloppy first 20 minutes on offense and special teams, the Vols settled in and began to impose their will. The performance the Vols had Saturday was pretty average and inefficient at times, but when a far from perfect showing results in a 36-point victory you know the team is in a pretty good position moving forward.

The defense looks FAST and hungry

After a touchdown on the opening drive, the offense went into a massive funk, but the defense showed up ready to pull their weight. Racking up 11 TFLs during the game the defense was nothing short of dominant. It’s not like Virgina was starting possessions in the shadow of their own goalposts either as 3 first-half possessions for the Cavaliers started in Tennessee territory, and none of them resulted in points. The defense showcased elite speed and physicality (a rarity last season). Each time a Virginia player had the ball in space they were swarmed almost immediately, and only a handful of long pass plays were completed. If the defense can replicate this performance in SEC matchups the sky is the limit for the Vols in 2023.

The running game was dominant

Many questions surrounded the offensive line coming into this matchup with starting center Cooper Mays being unavailable. Those concerns were eventually squashed as the offensive line turned in an excellent performance paving the way for 287 yards on the ground. The…