REACTION: Tennessee Football BLASTS NC State In Charlotte

[Music] ni time and Knoxville Niko time and Charlotte niiko time literally wherever you live the Showcase that was put on tonight by Tennessee is a reason why you believe out in Rocky toop this this is the year welcome into the postgame show on SEC unfiltered presented by game time make sure that you use the promo code SECU for $20 off your very next purchase Tennessee rolls their way to a 51-10 victory over the North Carolina State wolf pack he's Dave shate I'm Cole Thompson make sure that you like the video and hit subscribe down below this is your number one source for all things SEC moving forward download the podcast version of the show where every get your podcast listening systems make sure that you're following us on all the social media channels Tik Tok Facebook Instagram Twitter at SEC unfiltered follow Dave on Twitter mock Sports follow me on Twitter Mr Co Thompson don't worry all Twitter I know you're com for me and to keep up with all of our great content make sure that you visit SEC unfiltered.com Dave I have to do this now I have to do this because of I said this was going to be a close game I said Tennessee was going to win I said that Tennessee was going to look easily like the better team in the fourth quarter but I thought NC State was going to make this a battle I thought this was going to be a close call it was going to be a back and forth Tony Gibson's defense is going to deliver I was wrong I I was very wrong I was so wrong uh I have to give a couple shout outs real fast because of people are waiting for me to actually do this uh Kyle B fishen 407 on YouTube you told me to apologize to Ball's Twitter and to Ball's Nation I am I am very sorry I I am I I have egg on my face I am a clown I am an idot I am a man of humility I am a man of Honor I am a man of dignity I was wrong I also want to give a shout out to a couple people on Instagram because of you also called me out uh let's give a shout out to um oh yeah Andrew Walsh 887 yeah basically you said that they were going to that Tennessee was going to score more points in the first quarter than NC State did all night minus the two picks where were you wrong where were you wrong this was a performance where if you are a volunteer fan where you are looking at this from a 30,000 foot angle you're a top four team in college football you are an SEC Contender you are a national champ ion Contender you put on a performance on both sides of the ball and on special teams that is going to allow you to fight for a spot in Atlanta and I don't think it's slowing down anytime soon yeah I mean it's kind of how I thought it would go I think I said on our show was the happy I thought the final would be 42 to 14 I I mean I thought ITC state would score a little more than that they had one off a pick six but dude I think the story of the nights Tim banks in the Tennessee defense I mean dude those dudes I mean Nico didn't even play his best game and he played okay it was very similar to in my opinion you look at the St is a very similar performance to his I feel like um Iowa performance minus the interceptions me 16 for 23 211 two touchdowns two interceptions but man the defense I saw at one point they had three sacks and 11 and a half tfls I think in the Midway to the fourth quarter I think in see they only had 18 yards in the second half I mean it was just a complete dominant performance across the board by Tim Banks I think that's the story of the night I think everyone thought Tennessee would be improved defensively this year especially in the front seven this just showed it I mean you saw Kirk Herre talking about it how much they're rotating guys in just consistently whether it's Omar Norman lot Omari Thomas uh myy Joseph uh it's it's just a unit that Rodney Garner that defensive line is accumulated Talent across the board I think Tennessee's offensive Line's more system based as we all know they run just by numbers in the but the defense actually has NFL dude that they're rotating in and out that will be the difference on why I think Tennessee is going to make the college football playoff I'm with you Cole I think they're a top four team that's impressed so far in a very very very early two-e season in college football I mean I'm very impressed with Tennessee I mean I think right now the top four teams in the SEC three of them have played good teams but I think it's Tennessee um Georgia not in Texas not in any order and then miss balls Nation I was wrong I'm going to keep doing this throughout the entire night just to show you how 100% wrong I was let's go through the performance last night punt punt punt field goal interception return for a touchdown punt fumble turnover on Downs fumble turnover on Downs punt punt that was the game plan for Tennessee's defense that was phenomenal that is what you call a performance to where Tim Banks gets to hold his hat up high I thought it was an overall solid game for Nico yam alava I thought it was absolutely a very potent game on the ground for Dylan Samson you see what this offense could look like but the problem is that you have to look at this defensive performance the thing that I wondered about moving forward was how good can Tim Banks get this front seven how quickly can this front seven be able to adapt they have the most underrated linebacking core in the country they have one of the best defensive lines in the country they have Far and Away the best defensive line in the SEC their secondary was able to blanket Casey concep Justin Jolly Noah Rogers they did everything there is no way for me to do a damn thing other than just say I am sorry for even close to doubting Tennessee I had them going nine and three I had them going nine and three I thought they were going to lose Georgia I thought they were going to lose to Oklahoma I thought they were going to lose to NC State Dave at best they're going to go 11 and one that is what's going to happen for this team they may go 12 and0 I think they're going to beat Alabama the way they look tonight I thought they were going I think they're going to beat Oklahoma the way they look tonight and the thing that I take away more than anything else is that this is correctable for nicoo IAM malaba he never felt pressured he never felt like he was ever under dur rest he was making play after play the mobility aspect is second to none he has been tested away from from from Knoxville and the theque he said that I thought was so confidently accurate is that he loves playing on the road he loves going to other environments to allow himself to live up to expectations ason answered and delivered he did everything that you want to see tonight from a quarterback that can easily come through and deliver when you expect him to 100% a performance to remember but this is a defensive performance if I'm giving out a game ball tonight I'm giving it to the defense I'm giving it to Tim Banks and I'm giving it to that secondary and that front seven the fact that you have 11 tackles for losses the fact that you have two fumbles the fact that you have great communication and the fact that you have a walk- on get a pick six who still is not on scholarship I'm sorry Josh hyp he belongs on scholarship tomorrow morning if he is not on scholarship I am raging and I'm driving up to Rocky Top to go ahead and do it yes Tennessee is the most impressive team of the day for me in the league just a pure dominant performance once they got that pick six when ke when NC State was driving that was kind of it was over at that point it again I said it all if they could get up two scores I don't see Grayson McCall and them stretch in the field again I think Tennessee is going to see better better passing teams in the future we we'll we'll truly see about the second secondary I mean I again I think it's probably as good as it's been which I mean again I think with that front seven they don't have to be great on the back end they just got to be they are they just can't be dis yeah so I mean so I mean you gotta give it up for Tennessee I me again know even as bad as they were on offense were not I should say we said they were they weren't even bad they just 50% on third it's just it's me and you talked about Nico has such an expectation with him now that it's kind of like people are like oh he didn't throw for 350 yards four touchdowns and no interception what's kind of going on it's like it's kind of I'm I'm I'm I'm sorry like all right let's go let's get back to the main point so Tennessee tonight in my opinion showed not only were they a top four team they are a team that you don't want to mess with in the SEC Oklahoma's not gonna handle them I already said Alabama wasn't goingon to be able to handle them I 100% believe that they're not going to be able to do it I look at Georgia that's going to be a tossup game at this point everything you saw tonight was consistency consistency consistency they're not just a threat to win the SEC they are a threat to win the national championship that performance is what you see and I'll tell you what Nico his mistakes tonight are beyond correctable the first interception you had all the time of the world it was a little bit overthrown you weren't able to correct it but it's not that big of a deal it's easily one of those things that can just revamp you can go ahead and find yourself another consistency the other interception is a pick six it was absolutely one of those plays that you want to have back ball TI at the line it's one of those that hangs in the air long enough it's correctable you have everything to be one of the best teams in college football and it doesn't matter who you play they have to play to your standard that's where you are looking at this team differently and I remember when you we were talking about in 2022 what we saw from henen hooker what we saw from this uptempo offense what we saw from the passing attack they had better weapons that that's the crazy part you had for half a season Cedric Tillman you had Brew McCoy come on he immediately started catching fire once cedri chman went out and yet had Jaylen hayatt you have everything you have Holden stays you have great tight end play you have abs I I was impressed with Dylan Samson and I was a guy going again you have everything you have everything you you have Brazzle you have a great passing attack in the backfield not not to mention you you also have a guy in Mike Matthews that we have barely even seen touch the field and when he does I think that's going to be electric yeah there is no reason to believe that the offense that we saw in 2022 can't be regrouped and more importantly re-elevated to new heights that's what we're talking about with this Tennessee team and now they got a defense and they got a run game it literally I I said this I said this in the offseason the most underrated group in all of college football will be Tennessee's linebackers and Tennessee's Run game the way that I look at these two is that just because of they're unproven doesn't mean that they're not talented they showed up tonight they delivered in front of another team that is better than Chattanooga they look like a roster that can easily compete for a national title yeah I I think Dylan Samson making it through a whole season is the RV one full time I still think will be a question they need somebody like DeShawn Bishop to help carry at some point that would be my only concern just from a depth standpoint it's like you said not really that they can't do it it's just unproven I want to see I don't know if Dylan Samson's body type holds up for a whole season but that he needs somebody as an RB too to help him out from that perspective that's what I was saying going to the year but he does look like he's put on more weight that last year when you had Jaylen Wright Jabari small and them you didn't really see as much with him he's more like the scatback throw it to him out in the back field him make plays but he's put on some good weight some Mass it looks like he just as body tyght in the first two weeks of seeing him so he's been impressive I mean there's not much you can nitpick I mean again Nico is probably the guy you probably picked the most at in in this game and it wasn't bad and it's like you said I think it's stuff it can definitely be improved on it's easily correctable that's the main thing I mean you look at like miles kelman he he was phenomenal he should have had another touchdown and you had Cooper Mays down the field that was you know one time like a legal fate like that's the problem is that that's a dude that impressed and by the way the throw was beyond impressive that was the part that was that was awesome and it's all correctable the little things the minor Kinks the things that you can absolutely change overnight that is where you look at Nico and say it's GNA get better because it is it it 100% is I I I I am somebody and I made this clear to volunteer Nation I made this clear to college football nation I don't believe in bowl game performances good bad indiff it does not matter to me I will never judge you based off a bowl game performance I will take this game and say the things that I saw from Nico tonight are correctable and the things that you watch tonight are unteachable yeah that's the difference and the crazy part is is again you watched what henen hooker could do where Josh hyp said this is the best quarterback to run my offense but you look at Nico that's a quarterback that was handpicked by Josh hypo to run his offense that's the difference between these two is that now you're watching a quarterback that absolutely fits the system and is so comfortable in it he looks fantastic there is not a single bit of a drop off from what you saw in the performance tonight versus what you saw in the performance in the bowl game but now you're watching it with a full season and also he just looked poised yeah he looked like he was a veteran and this is a kid that's only going to get better I'll tell you what balls Nation I apologize again let's do this one more time I was wrong very wrong on how this game went tonight very very very wrong come for me in the comment section I'm all for it this man is going to be in New York City one year it may be this year it may be next year he will win a Heisman Trophy the performance you saw tonight is unteachable it is just a gift it is something that you look at that is either you have it or you don't and they 100% have it in niiko IAM malava yeah I right now I think I'm more confident now they'll beat Oklahoma again that's in a couple weeks college football is a week- to week Sport AS we've seen with a couple of teams today Cole you gotta stop apologizing brother you you made your predictions with the Daddy ah had at your hand I I'm sticking up for you you don't have no you have nothing to apologize for no that was the no I was wrong I was beyond wrong I thought it was going to be at least something it wasn't like I mean this one you were wrong on some other reactions I think you took with what data we had in front of us but no I mean oh no this one was wrong I mean no this this one was I mean again I thought it would be like 4214 I I don't know I just thought I thought it was 3124 no I was to win this game for NC State to be in this game they almost I think had to have the lead majority of this game it was if Tennessee just got out to a multiple score lead it was just like dude they can't play cat job that's just not NC State style but you're right I still think NC State's probably gonna be I mean what do you think eight and four nine and three in the ACC probably I mean like that but like does that say more of Testament to what the ACC is or does that say like I said Cal's just waving that flag right now baby cal in Miami let's let's talk about this real fast when you look at Tennessee and you look at the SEC just in general today because there were some sloppy performances not just Auburn Alabama looked anemic at times against South Florida a team that last year they went down to Tampa you never thought that you would see this type of performance and yet they found a way to win by 26 but it came all in the fourth quarter when you just saw the Bulls run out of gas Oklahoma going down to the wire against Houston that got boat race last week by unlb you look at a team like Old Miss that hasn't played anybody now you have questions about what's going on with Luther Burton and his longevity at Missouri you didn't see a great performance at times from LSU they allowed Nichol state to hang around a little bit far too long and you know MCN they had a decent overall outing but A&M put them away because of they just were the better team Tennessee's got to be at least top three in your opinion for the SEC right now yeah I mean got to be right yeah I mean just off I mean what do we think GE Georgia and Texas are clear about Texas have played better teams that both are proven too against those two teams yeah I would probably go right now as we stand right now Georgia Texas Tennessee and then probably Old Miss just off if you made me rank the top four off that it just oh miss sitting at four because we just I mean I don't think we're gonna know until they make that trip to Columbia like really what we I mean I think we know they're good we'll see when they go to Columbia how good because South Carolina showed today they're a solid football team um South Carolina and Vanderbilt look like those two teams that right now are living off of the Kool-Aid and that as soon as that high comes down it's going to be really bad and even still it's bad as what eight and four seven and five like it's not that bad that's the problem is that that's the difference between these squads Alabama looks beatable I thought that absolutely Tennessee would win in the third Saturday in October in that game I feel really more confident in that I look at LSU there's question marks on both sides of the ball I look at question marks when you're talking about Missouri at this point even though they did get a win definitely question marks when it comes to Oklahoma the question marks that I have for Tennessee are Beyond fixable it's having your offensive line give Nico a little bit more protection it's Nico throwing Under Pressure it's Nico probably adding a little bit more the velocity on the ball to where it's a bit more touch and even then they're all fine they're all things that are easily manageable defensively you're going to face off against better wide receivers than what you saw tonight you are going to have to play against better offenses and more Personnel but you're going to be good your defensive line is the best in the SEC for my money your linebacking court is the most underrated position in all of college football you have a run game you have wide receivers that can easily find ways incases in the open Avenue you also look at the way this offense has ran especially with the tight end play there's so much to like about Tennessee right now no ton to like man dominant performance you're right top two performers of the day with South Carolina probably coming in third but I think you got Texas and uh Tennessee sitting I think there is the top two um teams from the SEC in week two and like I said I probably I put South Carolina because I mean they're the only team that's one and0 in conference right there three I also want to give a shout out to Tennessee's offensive line like like Tennessee my favorite edition of the entire offse season was the addition of zance herd that was a starting left tackle in the NFL in two years and the fact that now he is in your line of year able to move uh what's his name over to the right side that just is such a confidence booster you look at how this line performs how many open Avenues they can do for Dylan Samson and whatever they else do in the Run game they average 5.3 yards per play Cooper ma that's a thing too we got to talk about with Tennessee Veteran Center has to stay healthy we saw last year when Cooper Maz went out against Florida and again some of that's Joe Milton missing some stuff from Mil Keaton dropping balls but again that offense look different without Cooper M he's got to stay healthy he's an underrated Cog for this offense as well everything about this offensive line just screams that they will give prote ction I think the other part is you have so many weapons that know how to play certain positions everyone has a role in this offense which is something that is awesome for Nico he is in a plug andplay ready situation but the part that is so fantastic is he feels comfortable two games in like yes you can throw the bowl game in last year but this is truly his first major start of 2024 where he is the guy there is no Joe Milton there is just Nico Imam malaba and he feels comfortable yeah he doesn't feel like that that the the tempo is too much for him he doesn't feel like that there is anything that he can't do and again the interceptions correctable the one pass that was that was the pick that wasn't the pick six it was just an overshot ball you missed Brew McCoy but you had the protection you can learn how to lead your receiver a little bit better the other one batted ball up in the air it hung for too long immediately he had nobody in the way six points that's what happens sometimes that's just the case so overall when you look at it Nico had a very solid night it could be better it will be better against other teams and it's all moving in the right direction this is a performance where if you look back the thing about Tennessee there's a lot to fix but all of it is correctable and so now you have it on film to say this is what we do differently next time this is where we look at this this is what we're supposed to do everything that you see is all 100% correctable no I agree because get B high ceiling Still Still stuff to work on like you said high ceiling good win though I will be fared up to see Nico play that Oklahoma defense though that's going to be a major task because I do I do like the sooner defense offense leaves a lot to be desired right now for the Sooners but I do think Brent vinal Zack allly that veteran sooner defense at all three levels they're gonna throw a lot at Nico I that's his next test obviously because I mean Kent State next week is whatever and then got the game with the Josh hypo homecoming I think that'll be a big test for Nico I do feel a lot better about the balls heading in into that one uh than I did probably preseason just because of Oklahoma's offense I don't know if they get a lot moving against that Tennessee front but I I do think that'll be a massive test for me go them because I think that the defense is going to travel every day every week I think for Oklahoma before we get on out of here let's just go ahead and talk about the defense real fast a performance that you will forever remember because of 11 and a half tackles for loss the fact that you got to see more of what James Pierce can do the fact that you got to see the depth of this defensive line I think that that's a really big stand out the secondary again against a team that you thought was going to have very good passing attacks yep 100% you did your job linebacking core is going to get better but that defensive line I cannot wait to see what they do against secc competition because of they're going to put Jaylen milro behind the six they're gonna make Jackson Arnold feel the pressure they're manageable conference schedule really it's a very manageable conference schedule just look through it real fast Oak okahoma Arkansas Florida Alabama Kentucky Mississippi State Georgia vanderbelt you can easily hold your own against every single person if they lost more than two games Cole I think you would agree you'd be shocked at this point I have to be yeah because I think that it's they're a 10in two team at worst yeah team at best and also it would be they're playing down to someone's competition and I don't think they're going to do that I think someone's going to have to play up to their level and they're going to have to deliver the crushing bow in the fourth quarter that's it that like like that's the way that you're going to have to beat Tennessee this year they are a college football playoff team they look poised on both sides of the ball they feel like that they have the confidence to be able to go toe-to-toe with anybody there is nothing that you can do to stop this team the only thing that's going to stop this team is themselves and it's going to happen when they have to play against competition that is at their level and there's one team right now that has shown they even can hold their own and it's Georgia and besides that and again that game's at that game's in Athens so you have to throw the environment into the atmosphere that's going to be a reason why both teams have injuries by then probably it's like second to last game of the year I think at that point but even still as long as you're mostly healthy if you're 90% healthy you feel very good about the direction of this team dude a while we even talked about it either we forgot about it you Tennessee hadn't allowed a touchdown yet this year they have Nico malava has been on drives for over a 100 points and they have yet to allow a touchdown that is mind that is Absolut I see Paul Garner here keep saying Tennessee is beating Oklahoma by no one by one or two touchdowns so come get so yeah I don't think me and Cole are saying Tennessee is gonna lose to Oklahoma at this point but I do think you'd be naive to not think that's going to be a test for the Tennessee offense on the road against probably one of the more veteran defenses who have the least amount of question marks of any defense against a defensive head coach and a pretty good defense coordinator Zack Alli I think that will be a test so I might I wouldn't expect to go roll in there I promise you this they have a better defense than NC state has I'll say that it feels beyond weird that we live in a society where right now Miami Texas potentially USC and Tennessee all are going to be legit college football playoff contenders and their fan bases have reasons to talk they do because this is a team that feels like they can hold their own and more importantly they get to play up to everyone else's competition no let me phrase that everyone else has to play up to their competition they are a complete roster top to bottom for right now and moving forward so long as you have niiko IAM malava so long as you have an offensive line built like this you have a chance the wide receiver depth is fantastic I like the running game I also truly do believe that this defense is only going to get better there's no reason to doubt Tennessee a performance like this tonight is a reason why you believe that the volunteers can be in Atlanta it's a reason they can win in Atlanta they don't even have to worry about playing at Rocky Top in the first round of the playoffs because if they're going to have a buy they feel like they have everything there they may not they may end up losing a game who's to say but at the end of the day the performance that you saw tonight everything is correctable that you watched and everything that you saw can translate to SEC competition absolutely 100% man dominant performance by the olds like rate reviews subscribe make sure you hit the comment section down below what was your biggest takeaway from tonight's performance from Rocky Top volunteers 51 to 10 I was an idiot I was wrong congratulations on proving me wrong make sure that you also hit the follow button because it's your number one source for all things SEC download the podcast version of the show wherever you get your podcast listening systems make sure you follow Dave on Twitter at Mock Sports follow me on Twitter Mr Co Thompson follow us on Twitter at SEC unfiltered plus we're on Tik Tok Facebook Instagram go and roast me in the comments follow Twitter I was wrong I'm totally okay with it and to check out all of our great work make sure you visit SEC unfiltered.com for Dave sh I'm Cole Thompson Rocky Top rolling peace [Music]