Alabama Football vs Tennessee Preview: Q&A With Rocky Top Talk

In what has been an annual tradition for years now, Terry Lambert from Rocky Top Talk joins us (mostly in peace) once again to talk a little about the Tennessee Volunteers from a fan’s perspective. Hopefully, this is the only time you’ll have to interact with a Vols fan this year – he is one of the best.

While you’re at it, go check out my responses over on their site.

1) Josh Heupel is now in year 4 (my how time flies!), what are your feelings about him now? I know after 2022, he was the best coach ever, but sometimes a taste of achievement makes anything less than that underwhelming. 2023 was a bit of a meh year for the Vols, and after a hot start this season, the last three games have been a struggle (in fact, it’s kind of mirrored Alabama’s season, absent a big win over an overrated* UGA squad). Starting to feel a little bit of discontent?

*yeah, I said it. UGA ain’t it this year.

Admittedly I was not a huge fan of the hire back in 2021, simply based off the regression we saw at UCF. But it’s worked, in large part to his hyper-speed spread offense. People forget just how far down Tennessee was here after Heupel was installed only weeks after the Jeremy Pruitt-McDonald’s-Bag-Of-Money fiasco. It’s important to keep that context in mind when evaluating Heupel.

Going forward, it remains to be seen if he can win big. We have big questions about his ability on the road, which we saw pop up once again against Arkansas. His clock management can be maddening at times, too. Overall though, looking at the big picture, it’s hard to not say Tennessee is on the right track. They’ve got their NIL collective rolling, which is going to net another top ten class. He’s landed five-star quarterbacks in three of the last four cycles.

Heupel has Tennessee back to a perennial nine-win per year program, which was the first step. Getting to that next level is expected now though, and the Tennessee fanbase isn’t exactly a patient bunch. It kinda feels like he needs to beat Alabama or Georgia now to make this season a success. If he does that, Tennessee will be right back in the thick of the CFP picture.

2) Nico Iamaleava. Some, not me, have said he’s the next Trevor Lawrence. Others, which may actually be me, have said that Trevor Lawrence and Iamaleava both run like a giraffe, but that’s the extent of the similarities. What do you think about him? Can he get the Tennessee offense back to Hendon Hooker level eventually, or are there some limitations?

It’s an interesting case. He came out guns blazing, even if it was against inferior opponents. Now you’re seeing some freshman moments pop up. Personally, I don’t really feel like he’s been as bad as the narrative suggests. We’re still talking about a 19-year-old kid making his first starts in the SEC. Did we really expect him to come in and have a full grasp of the offense like Hendon Hooker did back in 2022? That was always unrealistic, but after his hot start, I get the frustration.

One big part of this equation has been the offensive line. Particularly the tackles — they’ve been flat out bad. Almost every time Nico scrambles, they get hit with a holding call. Five-star LSU transfer Lance Heard has been atrocious in pass protection, which has created several blindside hits. He’s dealing with constant pressure and probably seeing some ghosts at this point.

Long story short, he’s a guy with all the tools and still trying to master the offense. But his protection has to get fixed before we get a true snapshot of his upside.

3) Is Dylan Sampson the best running back in the SEC? I’m not sure who I’d even put against him.

Yes, like you said it’s not even close. He’s been really impressive in his development, turning himself into a do-it-all back. He was initially thought of as a homerun hitter, but his vision and toughness in between the tackles is what has set him apart now. Tennessee really leans on him without much depth behind him.

Like Nico, he’s been dealing with some offensive line issues. Tennessee’s rushing attack is the key to everything, and far too often the offensive line has failed to get a push. Sampson has bailed them out several times, but there’s only so much he can do.

4) How’s Miles Kitselman doing? He was an interesting JUCO guy that never would have gotten any real playing time with us, but I liked the way he ran routes back in the JUCO days.

This guy seemingly came out of nowhere, but he’s essentially TE1 for Tennessee now. They’ll use three guys there, but he’s been out-snapping everyone the last few weeks. He was kind of a late take out of the portal, following the higher profile pickup of Holden Staes from Notre Dame. But really since the second game of the season he’s been the main tight end threat in the passing game.

Tennessee doesn’t throw to tight ends a ton, but if they do, Kitselman has turned into the guy.

5) Statistically, Tennessee has arguably the best defense in the country. Where did that come from?? Any chance there’s a weak spot or two that you see that aren’t showing up in the stats yet?

Continuity on the coaching staff, honestly. Tennessee is in year four with this staff and all they’ve had to replace is a linebackers coach. The core of this group has been there since the start, and the staff has been able to build them from the ground up.

Legendary DL coach Rodney Garner is the secret. His defensive line has developed into the best group in the SEC, which is pretty wild to think about considering where Tennessee was just a few years ago. The defensive front rotates about 12 guys, which keeps them fresh even in the fourth quarter. They want to wear offenses down and they’ve been really successful at doing that so far. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks’ aggression is a large piece of this puzzle too — he’s going to come after you for four quarters.

Tennessee has yet to give up more than 17 points all year long. A Josh Heupel team led by defense isn’t something I had on my bingo card, but here we are.

As far as a weakness, senior linebacker Keenan Pili was lost for the season last week to a torn ACL. This shifts responsibility down to two sophomores, Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander. They’ll apparently be sharing the communication helmet this weekend, so we could see some growing pains there.

6) Are there any freshmen getting on the field that you think are going to be an All-American a year and a half from now?

Tennessee notoriously hasn’t played true freshmen under Heupel, but Chattanooga native Boo Carter has found the field. He’s quickly finding a home at the nickel spot and has made several plays so far. He was a guy that most felt was going to be hard to keep off the field following a strong spring, and he’s certainly delivered to this point.

Five-star receiver Mike Matthews has also flashed, but hasn’t really found playing time yet. He’s a guy that could make a big jump quickly, however. I’d expect him to get a couple of drives on Saturday.

7) Okay, what’s the actual injury situation right now? I’ve seen some things saying that your entire WR core is injured, and others saying most everyone is playing. Are there any major pieces not playing in this game?

It was pretty strange after the Arkansas game. Bru McCoy was in a cast and Squirrel White was in a sling. Those in the know painted a pretty grim picture, but then they were both listed as probable last week and both ended up playing. I’m expecting the receivers to be a full strength this weekend, though Squirrel does seem to be paying through pain.

We’ve already touched on the Pili injury. Tennessee also lost starting nickel Jourdan Thomas for the season back in camp. Outside of that, Tennessee is about as healthy as you can ask for at this point.

8) What is a successful season for Tennessee this year? Just make the playoffs? Win a playoff game?

Yeah, so this has probably shifted in the last couple of weeks. Tennessee looked like they were ready to set the world on fire up 19-3 on Oklahoma at halftime. They’ve been flat out bad since that point. Can they rebound? We’re going to find out Saturday.

Success for me would be making the playoff. Doing it with a redshirt freshman quarterback would certainly set up expectations for 2025. I’m not sure you can ask or expect much more at this point.

9) Who do you predict actually wins the SEC?

I mean can you go with anyone other than Texas? I do agree Georgia ain’t it this season. What exactly is Alabama? I think the Tide will probably figure it out, but are they better than Texas? Ole Miss is already dead, LSU? Maybe? Texas A&M vs. LSU in a couple of weeks will tell us a lot.

Ultimately I just don’t think anyone can hang with Texas.

10) and, of course, what’s your game prediction?

I personally can’t get the last two weeks out of my head, and I know ‘Bama has played just as bad. The difference has been that Tennessee has gotten off to painfully slow starts, not scoring a single point in back to back first halves. The defense has stood on its head, and frankly has caught some luck to stay in these games.

As good as this defense is, ‘Bama is going to get theirs. Can the Tennessee offense get going early? That’s the key for me. I don’t think they do.

Alabama 27, Tennessee 20