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Tennessee's Defensive Stats Lead to Former National Champions Comparison | Rocky Top Insider

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Tennessee's Defensive Stats Lead to Former National Champions Comparison | Rocky Top Insider


Boo Carter (23) and Joshua Josephs (19) celebrate a sack during a game against Kent State at Neyland Stadium. Saturday, Sept. 15, 2024. Photo by Cole Moore/Rocky Top Insider

Tennessee’s defense has been the backbone of the Volunteers’ team this season.

With the offense struggling at times this season, Tennessee hasn’t been out of a game all year because of the way its defense has kept them in contention.

According to CBS Sports HQ’s Todd Fuhrman on Tuesday, Tennessee is the only FBS team to give up less than 20 points in every game this season. While teams like Oklahoma and NC State have proven to be offensively hindered this season, the Vols held Arkansas, Florida, and Alabama to sub-20 points despite talented quarterbacks such as Taylen Green, DJ Lagway, Graham Mertz, and Jalen Milroe leading the opposing charge.

Fuhrman also presented Tennessee with a National Champion comparison with his stat on Tuesday. According to Fuhrman, Tennessee is the fifth SEC team since 2000 to hold each of its first seven opponents to under 20 points.

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The previous four all won the National Championship: 2003 LSU, 2011 Alabama, 2012 Alabama, and 2021 Georgia.

There’s a bevy of additional factors that go into contention for the national championship but as the saying goes, defense wins championships. And while the Vols’ offense certainly has room to improve, Tennessee’s defense is playing at a championship-level – both in the eye-test and in historical comparisons.

More from RTI: A Deep Dive Tennessee Football’s Path To The College Football Playoff

There’s another stat that came out on Tuesday that highlights just how good Tennessee has been but in a slightly different direction from just the scoring aspect.

According to ESPN, stop rate is “a basic measurement of success: the percentage of a defense’s drives that end in punts, turnovers, or a turnover on downs.”

Entering Week 10 of the college football season, Tennessee leads the country in stop rate at 81.3 percent and 0.90 points per drive, both the highest in the country.

Tennessee tops out Texas in the top spot, as the Longhorns post an 80.2 percent stop rate and also allow 0.90 points per drive.

“Tennessee moved into the No. 1 spot in the stop rate standings ahead of Texas and Ohio State after the latter two had close wins Saturday,” ESPN’s Max Olsen wrote on Tuesday. “The Vols are coming off their bye week and have a stop rate of 81.3% on the year. They’re the only defense in FBS that has held every opponent under 20 points. Last season, Tennessee finished No. 28 in stop rate at 68.6%.”

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Need another National Champion comparison?

Last year’s Michigan squad finished No. 1 in stop rate at 81.6 percent in its games against FBS opponents.

“The top 25 teams in the final 2023 stop rate standings won a total of 249 games, with seven earning conference titles,” Olsen wrote. “Great teams find a way to get stops in critical situations.”

Tennessee’s defense is playing at a championship level. It’ll be up to them to continue building on their first seven performances while the offense continues to grease the gears in hopes of getting the offensive engine to run in overdrive in the final stretch of the season.

It all starts on Saturday, though.

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No. 7 Tennessee will host SEC rival Kentucky at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium. The Wildcats defense currently ranks No. 50 in stop rate at 65.8 percent and 1.77 points per drive, according to ESPN.





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CFP Committee Chair's Illogical Explanation For Why Two Teams Jumped Tennessee | Rocky Top Insider

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CFP Committee Chair's Illogical Explanation For Why Two Teams Jumped Tennessee | Rocky Top Insider


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.



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Titans Fall in Latest Power Rankings

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Titans Fall in Latest Power Rankings


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!

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Lady Vols' all time basketball results against Middle Tennessee State

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Lady Vols' all time basketball results against Middle Tennessee State


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)

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2023-24: Middle Tennessee State 73, Tennessee 62

PHOTOS: Kim Caldwell through the years

Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports



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