VolReport: Reacting to Tennessee football's dominant win over NC State in Charlotte

hello and welcome to Bank of America Stadium here in Charlotte North Carolina where Tennessee just took down NC State a top 25 matchup 51 to 10 of 50 burger for Tennessee plus one I'm R Sil this is Noah Taylor we are with Vol reports.com on the rivals Network and we predicted Tennessee to win this game we we predicted them to win by multiple scores but neither of us predicted them to win this game by 41 points so what went right for Tennessee today defense you know I think this is the kind of game that you know three levels for Tennessee you know it was a game where you know Grayson McCall we talked about him all week maybe present some challenges for them uh we knew obviously knew how good Tennessee's defensive line how deep they've been uh obviously stopping the Run has been a a big part of their defense the last couple years and I I think today you know 39 yards they held NC State to rushing Grayson McCall was never really able to get in the game outside of maybe one or two drives and then obviously the defense was able to make stands there um this is such a promising game I think for Tennessee's defense especially on a night where uh Nico looked a little bit more Mortal I I think and and like you know you still put up 51 points and uh but will Brooks has the pick six there uh that changes the game um you have a couple fourth down stops when NC State was in desperation mode I think three sacks in there 11 tackles for loss so just all in all I think Tennessee is got to be really pleased with how this defense played we'll talk about Nico in a second but the the defense I mean you give up to to the Grayson Mccalla a quarterback who ended up passing for a good chunk of yardage against Western Carol Ina last week and that game looked bad for three quarters but he finished one that fourth quarter 104 passing yards today 15 for 22 an interception that costly one to will Brooks that that really turned the game on its head I mean you have the ball inside the 20 you're in the Red Zone you punch it in it's a 10 to 10 game instead all of a sudden it's that 14-point swing and will Brooks takes it to the house you give credit to Josh Josephs for getting in there and and causing that poor throw and then you give credit to ke peely for for a big block down the sideline but it's will Brooks finding I guess not the Checker boards but but the n stay End Zone down on the other side and all of a sudden instead of maybe a tie game you're up 14 and then from there just snowball 30 straight points in the favor of Tennessee uh from there defensively it was third Downs though uh I mean first drive of the game it's third down uh three different times you get him on third down and you get you you can't get off the field you're playing kind of loose coverage and they're they're just getting to to the sticks and moving the ball you finally get them off the field okay you fin get the punt but but you got to do something different on these third Downs like like it killed them it was like a six-minute drive for the rest of the game I I don't think they converted a third down uh I mean so that's kind of what the difference on the defensive end was for me three for2 for North Carolina State on third downs and they get three in a row to start the game so that that was the difference for me you're not only getting three and out or you're not only getting those first two plays on those three outs but you're getting off the field as well and that starts with the defensive line but I thought the secondary did did a pretty good job I thought the linebackers did a good job and and they handled some unique situations playing kind of five linen at times and uh and some different looks but but overall defense dominates and that's a big deal let's talk offense though start with Nik malava two interceptions really one of them is probably only his fault but but what were your thoughts on his performance yeah I mean it it it felt like obviously after that will Brooks interception it didn't really feel like there was a moment where Inc state was in this game or going to be able to to overcome what Tennessee was doing but there were a couple times there where the defense really set Tennessee up with a very short field and you know next thing you know it's settling for field goals and things like that again it didn't feel like those were going to be costly for Tennessee not not getting In The End Zone on those but it felt like you know with this offense you kind of want to see that there I think as the game went on particularly in that third in that fourth quarter um they were just Unstoppable and I think he got better as he went along again obviously the pick that that just not not a wise throw I think didn't see the guy over the middle of the field Josh iel talked about it in there um a minute ago about how uh even on the throw that that Nico did throw the second pick on he said he's got to have better awareness in the pocket you kind of expect that from the head coach to say about the leader uh of the offense but again a play where he gets kind of Blindsided and just kind of lobs it up there but outside of that I mean if you're Tennessee and and this is a a b minus kind of offensive game you know you got to feel really good you put up 51 points sc one of those was a defensive touchdown and you got to give credit to the defense for helping set you up a lot of those but um I mean it's just overall I think the offense got better as the game went along and and obviously Dylan Samson had a lot to do with that himself but overall a really good performance from Nico and if this is the worst you're going to get for him I think we can live with it yeah I think the cards are stacked against him a little bit in a way talked about uh miles kelman talked about how we knew they were going to kind of have that three front obviously a 3-3 defense and a lot of the times you still get pressure from one of those linebackers so so you're still getting four guys at the quarterback but but for a lot of this game it was just a three-man front dropping eight guys in the coverage and so Tennesse looked at that on film and they said well let's go 12 personnel and let's run the ball and what that results in is Dylan Samson running it for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries I mean he has a long of 34 finds the end zone Nico contributes with a touchdown and 68 yards of his own on eight carries and and that counts the minus yards for sack so really if you're just looking at the positive yardage gained by Nico it's even higher than that bishan Bishop's in the mix a little bit he gets 10 carries for 42 yards average for 4.2 a pop so they ran the ball really effectively because of what NC State was giving them they asked their their tight ends having two on the field at a time to to block it and that's what they were able to do and that's why you saw in those 12 Personnel packages it was miles kelman and it was holding stays because those are the two better blocking tight ends and so you have them on the field at the same time and you're getting push and that leads to these these big rushing games and then maybe you switch back to the 11 personel out they at times and that's when Ethan Davis typically came back onto the field but at the end of the day day that means that Nico is not going to have a lot of options and that means that sometimes he is going to drop back and there's just not a lot of separation and that was something I noticed throughout the game is there there was a couple plays Nico drops back and maybe he has time but he's looking down the field and there's just not much there and one of them was a big strike to Miles gitelman who gets free for a touchdown that gets called back his name Davis is an eligible downfield but it it was those type of plays where all right you see Nico in the pocket you see have time your eyes drift towards the secondary and see what's open and there's just not a lot of Separation I don't think that's something that will plague Tennessee going forward I know receiver play was maybe somewhat of a worry last season at times where it felt like people were maybe helping out the quarterback in situations but I I think that's more of a this game specific scenario but but overall I think Nico handled it mostly well I do agree you probably can't let that ball get get thrown you have to kind of feel the pressure but that that is a a tough situation for him to be put into and he owned it too and when he talked to the media which I thought was was cool he said I talked about the defense and he said hey I mean seven of the points on the board on me like like those are my seven points so you can't even put that on the defense so that that's always good to see from a Young quarterback as well maybe a situation where where some people would would just want to be like that's not my fault I got his as I threw but but he's owning it uh anything else on the offense that that stuck out to you yeah you know I I think that kind of like what you mentioned with the 12 Personnel hypo was asked about that and one thing was kind of interesting in in his response to to the question was you know it was definitely something that they've wanted to do for a long time and he talked a lot about and Alec aan too in the offseason in Fall Camp about you know having as much depth as they had in that tight end room I think tonight uh hypo kind of lit up when he talked about you know these guys having that uh having that kind of luxury now to to be able to run you know run that kind that those kind of packages and things like that and and uh I think so I think you're right I think Tennessee came in with that game plan and then if there's future games where they see something on film that it could work you know now you got a blueprint that that could be successful and I I think Dylan Samson obviously running back there too is just Tennessee is not missing a step I guess in in that obviously maybe a little banged up a little short-handed in this game even in that running back SC s i i i don't think they're going to miss a step running the ball they've done really really well and not just Dylan obviously but you mentioned DeShaun Bishop too who's guy they've raved about he's had two so pretty solid games I think com in that kind of number two spot right now so um yeah I think a really good blueprint for Tennessee tonight running the ball yeah I think the 12 person was interesting cuz it's like is that something that they're going to go to a lot more or is that something that was very game specific I think it was Game specific I think that's something that they saw that like I said the NC State dropping back a lot of guys in that three Manute front and and they thought that that was something they could exploit but it does open the door for for those packages like we talk where where maybe you're playing Alabama and most of the game you're still in that 11 personnel with three receivers on the field but there's situations where you can go into that 12 personnel and now you have experience to fall back on and a lot of experience to fall back and a lot of film the watch to to learn from so it does kind of open the doors for for maybe specific things here and there that you can mix in but I don't think that that'll end up being like the new kind of scheme for for Hyo and stuff like that I think it'll kind of mostly just be chocked up to this is what they saw but who's to say you don't see a team similar to that in the future as well that you'd like to go to running back position I do want to touch on that really quickly I mean Dylan Samson was the feature back and that's something that's been new for for a joshh Hy offense even back in 21 when you had tyion Evans and you had Jabar small still and and guys like that and Jaylen Wright was a freshman you still saw that rotation it wasn't necessarily what we saw today with with Dylan Samson where it's like every Drive he's on the field I mean last year you're three guys you felt really good about and there was times where it's okay we'll start Jaylen Wright we'll go to Dylan Samson we'll go to Javari small we'll see who has the hot hand and we'll write it well they are really relying on Dylan Samson having that hot hand and he's played really really really well like one of the best backs in the country so far through two games and he's kind of probably putting himself on some draft for with the way he's he's running as well but it it'll it'll be something to note throughout the season like do do those miles start to add up do those hits start to add up or is he going to be able to stay fresh like he look so far I just think that'll be something to look at as things go forward what is his snap count looking like and how is he kind of maintaining that and just physically surviving that uh Cameron Seldon we'll find out I'm sure on Monday exactly what held him out of this game but we'll have to see but there there feels like a gap though right now it feels like Des or Dylan Samson's up here and not that cam Seldon deshan bisham those guys are bad but it just feels like there's a gap right there and it feels like probably the coaches think the same thing with how they're handling those snap counts special teams Max Gilbert misses one from I think 53 but overall how' you feel like he kicks that yeah I mean we talked about it last week after that Chattanooga game and and it just seemed like you know from everything we were told by the coaches and fall camp that that competition at kicker went deep into fall Camp you know up until the week before before the game obviously the opener and uh obviously has a really good debut Last Week Tonight they needed him you know again it it was you know the offense stalled out on a couple drives where the defense kind of GI wrapped them some really good field position and you know it's better than not coming away with points at all and Gilbert connected on that um and then like you said you know you had there I think he was five for five on the season till they Trot him out there kind of late you know in this game and he kicks from 50 plus and you know that one obviously maybe he gets some Mulligan on but um yeah just a really solid performance from him you can kind of kind of see why he's created that separation there in the kicking game three really important field goals in this game that got Tennessee points on after some you know G gaining some momentum from what the defense did last couple things on special teams before we get out of here Jackson Ross once again just a one punt game for him unlike Chad nooga though where things didn't go well he had a really nice punt today 43 yards pins it inside the 20 I think it's at the eight yd line so a nice punt from Jackson Ross not being used much you don't want to have to use your punter much but uh Still Remains a weapon uh and kind of that bounce back like we saw last season looks like it's starting to maybe take a little bit of form cuz there will be a time where he's called on and needs to flip a field and so far it looks like he's capable of that punt returning though I thought SC white did a phenomenal job returning punts and I mean D Williams and veos Jones Jr set a very very high bar for return men at Tennessee but squirrel white I I I thought looked Dynamic he was making guys miss you saw the the speed that that he could get too and kind of get down the field and he's slippery too like like it felt like it was tough for for some of those guys to bring him down so that's another weapon for Tennessee and we saw it kind of win Tennessee at game against Texas A&M with the Williams we've seen those special teams plays be really important so that that's something as well that I think you kind of Mark as a positive for Tennessee as squirrel whes looking like a natural returner and a big weapon at the position and and from a distance you know similar size got the number three on now it kind of looks like D Williams so so that that's something that that's once again stays elite under Josh hyle and now kind of the third guy in that system to do well in that role that'll do it all from us here though today inside Charlotte make sure you follow us for Content throughout the rest of the season as we follow this Tennessee 2024 season that is off to a 2 and0 start next week Kent State back in nean stadium Nik im malava looking to probably keep a cleaner slate but continue to build on a really nice start to the season as Tennessee's starting quarterback links to everything he needs in the description make sure you check out report.com for our written content thank you for watching