Opponent Film Review: Tennessee's Offense
Last weekend against Mississippi State, South Carolina faced off against an offensive that had a good amount of pro-style concepts in terms of how the Bulldogs diversified their run game, the kind of play-action concepts they ran, and how they tried to use the entirety of the field. This week, the defense will be going up against a Tennessee offense that will offer its own unique challenges that, in certain aspects, will be much different than what they'll see the rest of the way. What should this Gamecock defense expect from the Vols' offense?
Unconventional Splits
At this point, everyone knows about the tempo Tennessee's offense runs with, especially between each team's 25-yard line. However, the facet of this offense that many people overlook is the WR splits that the Volunteers use.
Say you have two wide receivers on one side of the formation; in a typical offensive set, one receiver will be lined up inside the numbers, while the other will be outside the numbers and closer to the sideline. In Tennessee's offense, you'll only ever see a receiver line up inside the numbers if it's a trips set with three wide receivers going to one side of the field. This stretches opposing defenses horizontally and segues perfectly into my next talking point.
A Stubborn Inside Run Game
Despite the reputation that precedes them, Josh Heupel and this Tennessee offense want to establish a strong ground game, particularly between the tackles, and build off of that. Tennessee will use zone-blocking and power-run blocking concepts to try and get a hat-on-a-hat and leave their running backs with either a clear running lane or a one-on-one situation where an opposing linebacker must make a play.
Even when there were down multiple scores against Florida, the Volunteers continued to run the football to set up the final aspect of their offense that we'll discuss.
The Short & Long Game
Watching back the Volunteers games against Virginia and Florida, one thing stuck out about Tennessee's passing game: they'll attack you on the perimeter and deep down the field. The Volunteers will utilize a ton of screens along with their inside run game to try and get the opposing defense to creep up closer to the line of scrimmage. When successful, Heupel will break out play-action concepts that involve option routes on the outside dictated by the defensive coverage they're going up against. If South Carolina's defensive backs don't improve this weekend, it could be a long night in Knoxville.
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