Greg McElroy looks at 2 matchups during Tennessee’s season opener

Greg McElroy discussed some of the matchups he will be paying close attention to on Saturday as Tennessee faces Virginia. The Vols play the Cavaliers in Nashville, Tennessee to open the year.

One of the questions about Tennessee will be at the offensive line. After losing Darnell Wright to the NFL Draft, there is a hole at tackle. Luckily for Tennessee, Chico Bennett is out after recovering from knee surgery.

McElroy wants to see how John Campbell and Jeremiah Crawford handle Ben Smiley III from Virginia.

“Tennesse’s offensive line was given a bit of a gift. Chico Bennett is out. John Campbell, transfer from Miami, he’ll lock down the left side. The other guy is Jeremiah Crawford, he’s on the right side. He’s still relatively inexperienced when it comes to being the guy out there on the perimeter. I’m looking at the edge defender Ben Smiley specifically for Virginia working against those tackles early on.”

The Volunteer offense will be solid under Josh Heupel, but the secondary will need to be better in 2023.

Kamal Hadden, Doneiko Slaughter, Warren Burrell, and Gabe Jeudy-Lally are expected to be the main contributors.

McElroy wants to see how those players fair as well.

“Corners and secondary for Tennessee. That group needs to improve drastically. Looking at Tennesee, they’re probably gonna roll their corners and figure out exactly who’s up. You’ve got Kamal Hadden, Doneiko Slaughter. You also have Warren Burrell, and the transfer from BYU who does have adequate length at 6-foot-2 or so, that’s Gabe Jeudy-Lally.”

Kickoff will be at noon ET on ABC.