Tennessee Football. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2024. Photo by Cole Moore/Rocky Top Insider
Tennessee football landed at No. 7 in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night. It is the exact same spot that they debuted in the rankings the week before. However, a pair of teams jumping the Vols in the rankings was very notable.
Both Indiana and BYU were ranked behind Tennessee a week ago but jumped the Vols to fill the two-spots right ahead of them after Georgia lost at Ole Miss and Miami lost against Georgia Tech last weekend.
“It really came down to the play last week of both Indiana and BYU, both winning big games on their schedule,” College Football Playoff Chair Warde Manuel said. “BYU, obviously undefeated, two wins against top-25 opponents, at SMU and against Kansas State. In looking at it, as we assessed all the teams, we just felt that Indiana and BYU earned the 5 and the 6 slot, and Tennessee stayed where they are.”
Manuel, who is the Michigan Athletic Director, explanation for BYU and Indiana jumping Tennessee is illogical. Indiana earned a 20-15 home win over Michigan (5-5) while BYU defeated Oklahoma State (4-5) 22-21 in Stillwater last week. Both the Wolverines and Cowboys landed in the preseason top 25 but have not been good teams this season. Not only were they not quality wins, but neither team was impressive in their victory.
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Tennessee undoubtedly beat a worst opponent in Mississippi State (2-8) last Saturday but the Vols did it much more convincingly, knocking off the Bulldogs 33-19 despite starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava missing the second half with an injury.
More From RTI: Tennessee QB Nico Iamaleava Reprtedly In Concussion Protocol And Practiced Tuesday
Iamaleava exiting the game against Mississippi State and his status being uncertain for Saturday’s game at Georgia did not affect Tennessee’s ranking according to Manuel.
“I can say no to the injury to Tennessee’s quarterback. It had nothing to do with it,” Manuel said.
Both BYU and Indiana are undefeated at this point in the season and have cases to be ranked ahead of Tennessee. However, there was nothing that happened last weekend that would justify the two jumping the Vols in the rankings.
Tennessee’s offensive struggles were another reason mentioned for why the committee ranked Indiana and BYU over the Vols.
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“Tennessee, the offense has struggled some the second half of the season, not being consistent early in the year, and we just felt as a committee that at this time Indiana has been playing very well, a close win against Michigan, but other than that, they’ve dominated everyone they’ve played.”
Tennessee’s 33 points against a bad Mississippi State defense were the most they’ve scored in a single game since its September win over Kent State with.
The Vols do control their own destiny and can all but lock up their spot in the College Football Playoffs by knocking off No. 12 Georgia (7-2, 5-2 SEC) on Saturday night in Athens. The Bulldogs are coming off a loss at Ole Miss and have to run the table to have any chance at making the 12-team playoff.
The Vols could land in the playoffs even with a loss against Georgia but that is far from a certainty with this week’s rankings and the logjam of potential SEC teams that could finish with a 10-2 record.
Indiana has by far the hardest game on its schedule remaining as the Hoosiers will face Ohio State in Columbus on Nov. 23. The Hoosiers best win in their 10-2 start to the season is either its home win over Washington (5-5) or home win over Michigan (5-5). Indiana’s only win over a team with a winning record is Nebraska (5-4).
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Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
The Tennessee Titans are back in the loss column after falling 27-17 to the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Week 10.
The loss brought the Titans to 2-7 on the season, placing them with one of the worst records in the league going into the second half of their schedule.
The loss prompted Sports Illustrated writer Conor Orr to drop the Titans one spot in his latest power rankings from No. 28 to 29.
“A loss to a better Chargers team was a pretty solid all-around effort for the Titans. Will Levis completed more than 11% of his passes over expectation. He set his feet and showcased his deep arm talent on the first touchdown to Calvin Ridley. And, on defense, what a pleasure it was watching linebacker Jack Gibbens, who, I’d bet, just earned himself some money on the free agent market this offseason,” Orr writes.
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The only teams that rank lower than the Titans are the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and the AFC South rival Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Titans have hovered towards the bottom of the power rankings throughout the entire season after starting 0-3 and failing to generate much confidence as a team in their two lone wins against the struggling Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.
However, the Titans still have plenty of games left on the season that could change the tune. That being said, it would take a miracle for the Titans to find a way to pull themselves out of this rut that they have dug for themselves.
The Titans will look to begin their shoveling out of the bottom of the barrel as they host the 7-2 Minnesota Vikings at Nissan Stadium this week. Kickoff for the game is set for Sunday at 12 noon CT.
Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
The Lady Vols (2-0) will host Middle Tennessee State (2-0) on Tuesday.
Tipoff between Tennessee and the Blue Raiders is slated for 6:30 p.m. EST at Food City Center. The in-state game can be watched on SEC Network+.
Tuesday will mark the 24th meeting between the Lady Vols and Middle Tennessee State in women’s basketball.
Tennessee leads the all time series, 22-1, dating to 1971. The Lady Vols won the first game between the two in-state schools, but a score was not reported.
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Middle Tennessee State won the last meeting in the series, 73-62, on Dec. 6, 2023 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Lady Vols’ all time basketball results against Middle Tennessee State
1971: Tennessee defeated Middle Tennessee State
1972: Tennessee 55, Middle Tennessee State 48
1973: Tennessee 58, Middle Tennessee State 43
1974: Tennessee 77, Middle Tennessee State 33
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1974-75: Tennessee 69, Middle Tennessee State 32
1975-76: Tennessee 73, Middle Tennessee State 70
1976-77: Tennessee 87, Middle TennesseeState 66
1977-78: Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee State 79
1978-79: Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee State 63
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1979-80: Tennessee 63, Middle Tennessee State 48
1980-81: Tennessee 68, Middle Tennessee State 47
1983-84: Tennessee 70, Middle Tennessee State 52 (NCAA Tournament)
2007-08: Tennessee 84, Middle Tennessee State 61
2008-09: Tennessee 81, Middle Tennessee State 52
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2009-10: Tennessee 69, Middle Tennessee State 52
2011-12: Tennessee 82, Middle Tennessee State 43
2012-13: Tennessee 88, Middle Tennessee State 81 (OT)
2013-14: Tennessee 67, Middle Tennessee State 57
2020-21: Tennessee 87, Middle Tennessee State 62 (NCAA Tournament)
In past years, the Page Patriots (Tennessee) have been most well known for its offensive style of football.
Throwing the ball around the field and making opposing defensive coordinators wonder what buttons do they got to press in order to slow down Page offensively.
Now, it’s been the Patriots’ defense emphatically shutting the door every Friday night against opposing offenses, literally.
This 2024 season, Page (11-0), ranked No. 7 in the latest High School On SI Top 25 Tennessee rankings, has yielded just 15 points through 11 games. You heard that right. Two touchdowns with a missed extra point and a safety is all the Patriots have given up this season.
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To put it into perspective, at this time last year through 11 games, Page had allowed 138 points for an average of 12.5 per contest.
When asking Page head coach Charles Rathbone the question of how they’ve been so dominant on the defensive side of the ball, he had a pretty simple response.
“Having really good players to be honest,” Rathbone said. “When you have four Power 4 commits that side of the ball, you should be good. Interesting enough, around the state, we’ve known for throwing the ball around and our defense has really come around this year.”
Taking a deeper look into the defensive stars for the Patriots gives you a better idea of why this unit has given up just 15 points and a 12-yard run being the longest allowed this fall.
Starting with the defensive line is 6-foot-3, 250-pound Louisville commit Eric Hazzard, who is rated a 3-star per 247Sports. On the other side of Hazzard is 6-foot-5, 275-pound Connor Coffman, who is anchoring the defensive line and is committed to Chattanooga.
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Behind Hazzard and Coffman at linebacker is Tennessee commitment Brenden Anes, who flipped from Wisconsin to the Volunteers recently. The secondary has been a strength as well, with Wake Forest commit William Wiebush and Division I talent Knight Wilson patrolling the back end.
Not too mention that Rathbone’s son, Jacob, is also a Division I prospect on the offensive line and rounds out a very talented all-around team. Rathbone considers himself an old offensive line kind of coach, taking a good ole pancake block over a defensive highlight any day.
“I’m an old offensive line guy and I love a pancake block much more than a defensive play,” Rathbone said.
Page didn’t give up its first touchdown until Week 7 of the season when they faced Lawson, a 49-6 win on Oct. 4th. Rathbone was concerned on how his Patriots might react when they finally would give up a touchdown after six straight shutout wins, but said that it only angered his defense that much more.
“My biggest concern was when we would give up a touchdown, how would we react to that,” Rathbone said. “I think it honestly just made the guys more mad.”
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With the starters having played only 22 of a possible 44 quarters so far due to game competitiveness and running clocks, Rathbone has the same expectations for his backup players to come into the game and preserve the shutouts to close out contests.
“Our defense has played a total of 22 quarters this entire season and our No. 2’s have gone in and know the expectation,” Rathbone said. “(Pitching a shutout) is the expectation. That is the gameplan and expectation is to execute the gameplan no matter who is in.”
The Patriots have made three straight trips to the Class 5A state championship game, unable to notch a victory just yet. If Page looks to breakthrough for its first title, they’ll be leaning on its defense to lead the way this time around.
Up just 5-0 last week against Columbia Central, Rathbone knew his defense would need to be leaned upon in order to win the game. The Patriots essentially pitched another shutout, giving up a safety, in a 19-2 win.
Now as the postseason continues onward, Rathbone believes he might have his best team of them all.
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“Last week, we had to really lean on the defense when we were up 5-0,” Rathbone added.
“This group is very smart and they studied every little tendency you might have on offense. With our defense, we feel like we can win any game. With us going to three straight state title games, we feel like we should’ve won two of those. I think this could be our best team of them all.”
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— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi
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