What You Need to Know About the Tennessee Offense

Here's everything you need to know about the Tennessee Offense as the No. 1 ranked Georgia Bulldogs head to Knoxville to take on the Volunteers.

Tyler Graves | Nov 15, 2023

By any measure, the 2023 Tennessee offense is not nearly as potent as the 2022 version that terrorized opposing defenses a year ago. However, nonetheless, it is still a unit that possesses more than enough firepower to pose a significant threat to Georgia's current 27-game winning streak and its aspirations to win a third-consecutive national championship. After finishing No. 1 nationally in both total offense (525.5 yards/game) and scoring offense (46.1 points/game) a year ago, the Volunteers are averaging 454 yards and 32 points per game through the first 10 games of the 2023 season. While that is unequivocally a significant decline in overall offensive production, Tennessee still ranks inside the top 20 (No. 17) in total offense and inside the top 40 (No. 36) in scoring offense, making it a genuine threat to challenge a Georgia defense that, itself, is not producing at the level that it did a year ago.

The most staggering disparity between Tennessee's 2022 and 2023 offenses is found when studying its explosive play rates between the respective seasons. In 2022, the Volunteers were 14th nationally in plays of 20 or more yards and first nationally in plays of 30 or more yards. This year, Tennessee has dropped to 83rd nationally in plays of 20 or more yards and 42nd nationally in plays of 30 or more yards. After generating 80 plays of 20 or more yards in 2022, the Volunteers are only on pace to produce 53 such plays this season. Similarly, after producing 53 plays of 30 or more yards a year ago, Tennessee is only on pace to generate 31 such plays this season. Without the explosive punch it enjoyed a year ago, the Tennessee offense has been forced to grind out longer drives, which, in turn, largely accounts for the two-touchdown decline in its scoring average from 2022 to 2023.

While, when thinking of the Tennessee offense, most fans conjure up visions of Jalin Hyatt scorching defenses en route to winning the Biletnikoff Award, that is a misconception engineered by the myriad vivid examples of its explosive capabilities. In reality, however, the Tennessee offense is a run-first offense at its core. The Volunteers ran the ball on 55% of their offensive snaps a year ago and are once again turning to the run 55% of the time this season. And when Tennessee runs the football, they do it exceptionally well, as the Volunteers rank second in the SEC and ninth nationally in rushing offense with 213 rushing yards per game.

Georgia linebacker Chaz Chambliss (32) during the Bulldogs’ game against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. (Photo by Tony Walsh)

The Volunteer ground game is powered by a dynamic trio of running backs in Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small, and Dylan Sampson. For the second consecutive season, Wright leads Tennessee in rushing, and at 848 yards rushing through 10 games, he is only 27 yards away from surpassing his 2022 total. He is the clear featureback in the Volunteer offense, but both Small and Sampson have proven to be efficient and explosive runners when they receive opportunities to carry the ball.

Further complicating the task of defending the Tennessee rushing attack is the dual-threat ability of quarterback Joe Milton. While he has not been utilized as extensively in the Tennessee ground game as Hendon Hooker was the previous two seasons, at 6-foot-5, 235 pounds, Milton is a powerful runner with the athleticism to make defenses pay if they overcompensate to limit the effectiveness of Tennessee's talented trio of running backs. As the season has progressed, Heupel and Offensive Coordinator Alex Golesh have actively worked to involve Milton more in the run game. After only carrying the ball 15 times total in Tennessee's first three conference games, Milton's usage in the run game has more than doubled to 35 carries over the course of the Volunteer's last three SEC contests.

While Tennessee's offensive splits do lean towards the run, fans around the country have a conception of the Volunteer offense as a high-flying aerial attack for a reason: their commitment to the run game is designed to set up "kill shots" in the vertical passing game that Tennessee has used to demoralize opposing defenses. Last season, with Hendon Hooker at quarterback and Jalin Hyatt manning the ever-important slot position in the Volunteer offense, Tennessee led the nation in passing plays of 30 or more, 40 or more, and 50 or more yards. This year, however, with both Hooker, Hyatt, and Cedric Tillman off to the NFL, Tennessee has not had the personnel to replicate what they did a year ago in the passing game. Their passing numbers have dropped from 326 yards per game and 10 yards per attempt a year ago to 241 yards per game and 7.7 yards per attempt this season.

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Published Nov 15, 2023

TYLER GRAVES