Vanderbilt had an electric game against Kentucky last week as it triumphed 45-17. It is now time for the Commodores to hit the road for their final regular season game against the Tennessee Volunteers. To remain in playoff contention, Vanderbilt certainly needs a win in Neyland Stadium. On the other hand, Tennessee’s playoff hopes are gone, but it will do its best to play the spoiler.
The Hustler Interviewed Trevor McGee — sports editor for The Daily Beacon — to learn more about Tennessee Football.
The Vanderbilt Hustler: Diego Pavia has had an excellent past couple of weeks, and he is currently contending for the Heisman. What can Tennessee do to contain him?
McGee: I think that’s definitely a valid question to ask anyone surrounding the game. Since it is such a high-stakes [contest], I don’t know how much of it’s really going to be containing Pavia. It just needs to be Tennessee’s offense that shows up on Saturday. Clearly, not many teams have contained Pavia this year, and that’s why Vanderbilt has nine wins, looking for their first 10-win season in program history. Pavia is good, so I don’t know that there’s really anything Tennessee’s defense can totally do. You could throw out the obvious, get sacks [and] force turnovers, but really, I think the key to Saturday for Tennessee is just to outscore Pavia. Tennessee’s offense certainly is in the top five in a lot of offensive statistics. So, I think it’s less of what Tennessee’s defense can do in the game, and more of what Tennessee’s offense can do to match what Pavia puts out.
Tennessee has three players in the top 10 for receiving yards in the SEC. What makes this Tennessee offense so special?
You can look kind of at all the skill positions on offense. I guess it really all just starts at the quarterback position. Tennessee obviously went through what [it] did this offseason with [its] quarterbacks. [It] pulled off the first trade in college football with Nico [Iamaleava] going to UCLA [and] Joey [Aguilar] coming from UCLA. Now [it has] one game left on the schedule, and this offense is top five in the country in statistics as you mentioned. You have Chris Brazzell II who’s first in the SEC in receiving yards. You have Rayland Staley, who’s in the top 10 in the SEC and receiving yards. Mike Matthews is also in the top 10. All three have over 700 yards.
It all starts with Joey Aguilar, and he’s always been the kind of quarterback to just kind of sling the ball wherever. That’s just the style of quarterback he is. And there were plenty of questions coming into the year of whether that would translate to the SEC because he played at Appalachian State [in the] Sun Belt. It is not SEC football, but just the way he’s been able to mesh has been the reason why this offense has been as good as it’s been. [Aguilar] is not afraid to throw the ball down the field.
What players are you excited to watch in this week’s game?
I’m interested in the linebackers because there have been times this year where the linebacking core for Tennessee has been rough. Jeremiah Telander has kind of been the lead guy there. He’s a second-year starter. He’s basically the most experienced guy in the room. And then beside him, [there’s] Edwin Spillman, who’s a sophomore. [He] didn’t play much last year but has stepped into a huge role this year. And then behind them is true freshman Jaden Perlotte, who’s really stood out in the last couple of weeks. He’s a really athletic backer who kind of flies all over the field. So, I think that room is going to be an intriguing position group to watch, simply because of the obvious threat on the ground. So, their eyes are going to be important, the linebackers [are] the quarterbacks of the defense. It’ll be interesting to see whether they’re able to contain Pavia like they’re supposed to [and] keep their eyes in the right place. Even with Eli Stowers at tight end, the linebackers are usually responsible for the tight ends, so their coverage will be important. They’re probably going to have maybe their toughest test of the year with a quarterback that’s as mobile as Pavia is.
What should Tennessee’s objectives be for this upcoming game?
I think a big one would probably be limiting Pavia on the ground, maybe keep him below 50 rushing yards. I think a big goal for Tennessee’s defense is to limit what he can do on the ground, because three weeks ago, they faced John Mateer, who is a mobile quarterback. He’s known for his legs, [and] he had 80 rushing yards on the ground against Tennessee. That strengthens my point of Tennessee losing that game to Oklahoma because [it wasn’t] able to limit material on the ground as much as [it] probably would have liked to. Oklahoma’s offense has not been good for the last couple of weeks, but Mateer having 80 rushing yards on 16 attempts — that ended up helping Oklahoma beat Tennessee. Ultimately, Oklahoma probably shouldn’t have won. So, I think that strengthens my point on Pavia. That dual-threat ability is tough, and Tennessee ultimately needs to limit him to one ability. And if you force him to beat you through the air, I think you live with it. If you have Pavia beat you on the ground, you’re probably going to be upset with yourself.
Other than Pavia, which player do you think Tennessee should watch out for?
I think I would just go back to my last [point] of Eli Stowers. I don’t think there’s been a game this season where an opposing tight end has handed it to Tennessee, and I think Stowers is probably going to be the first [who] has the ability to do that. I don’t recall Tennessee playing a stronger tight end than what Stowers brings to the table. Tennessee’s linebackers have not been the greatest this season, but now that they’re putting it together [and] I’m interested to see how they’re able to perform against a guy that is as good as Eli Stowers.
What is your score prediction for this game?
It’s been torturing me all week because I can’t figure out what I think is going to happen in this game. There’s a lot in me that says Vanderbilt is going to come into this game to play. It’s their biggest game in school history. And Tennessee did the same thing last year.
We’ll give it a high score. We’ll go 42-38, Tennessee.
Vanderbilt Football will travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, on Nov. 29 to play the Tennessee Volunteers at 2:30 p.m. CST in Neyland Stadium.
Responses were edited for length and clarity.
