ESPN explains why 'the path is opening up' for Tennessee Football

Rece Davis saw enough from No. 7 Tennessee Saturday night against North Carolina State to wonder out loud if the Vols don’t belong among the elite. Texas? Ohio State? Georgia?

Is that the company Tennessee could be keeping after the 51-10 win over the Wolfpack in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte? 

Davis, making his point this week on the College GameDay podcast after calling the Tennessee-NC State game for ABC last week, also noted that the Vols aren’t elite because of their five-star redshirt freshman quarterback, Nico Iamaleava. 

It’s not because of Josh Heupel and his uptempo, ultra productive offense, either. 

“It’s the fact that they’re rolling about a dozen dudes through that defensive front,” Davis said, “all of whom aren’t just big wide bodies. They are rear-end kicking, trouble-making guys upfront. NC State typically is old upfront and they got absolutely butt-kicked in Charlotte on Saturday night. 

“It wasn’t just James Pearce,” Davis continued. “You got Joshua Josephs on the outside. Omari Thomas and Omarr Norman-Lott inside were devastating. (Dominic) Bailey and Tyre West on the outside. Bryson Eason inside. I mean, they just keep rolling them in.”

‘I do think the path is opening up for Tennessee a little bit’

Tennessee held NC State to just 143 total yards, the lowest total during the Heupel era. The Vols also had 13 tackles for loss from a combined 16 players, to go with three sacks and three turnovers forced.

“Now,” Davis added, “the problem with Tennessee’s defense is that they lost 11 defensive backs last year, either to the pros or to the portal. Then they lost a projected starter for the season to injury in camp.”

Tennessee’s secondary showed up against NC State, too, with safety Will Brooks taking an interception back 85 yards for a game-changing touchdown in the second quarter.  

“I asked Tim Banks … leading up to the game, I said, what about your secondary? Are you worried about your secondary?” Davis said. “And he said a good secondary starts with a great front. 

“Tennessee’s got a great front and those guys in the back are talented, but they’ve got time now. They’ve got time to get better and they don’t have to cover for long, not with those game-wreckers up front.” 

Iamaleava, making his third career start, had 276 total yards and three touchdowns in the win. He had 314 passing yards and three touchdowns in the first half against Chattanooga two weeks ago, in the 69-3 season-opening win at Neyland Stadium.

“As weird as this is going sound,” Davis said, “I need to see a little more development out of Nico and I need to see a little more from the wide receivers. Everybody is all crazy about Nico and they should be, he’s going to be super and is getting close, getting there quickly. 

“But the reason I’m in on the Vols now is that defensive front, because defensive fronts tend to travel. And you know what, in Tennessee’s case, if three or four of them didn’t travel so well, now we’ll just run the next ones in. They’re good too. That’s a really, really good, that’s a strong front.”

It’s the defensive front that should’ve been hyped more nationally entering the season.

“That’s what we should have seen from Florida State,” Davis said to his cohost, ESPN reporter Pete Thamel. “Pete, all your scout buddies that are talking about Florida State, have them go to Knoxville. That’s where they’re going find some dudes. They’re going to find some dudes in Knoxville up front.”

Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee (2-0) vs. Kent State (0-2)

Tennessee moved up to No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and No. 9 in the Coaches Poll after the win over NC State. The Vols host Kent State Saturday night (7:45 Eastern Time, SEC Network) before going to No. 15 Oklahoma next week to open SEC play.

“I really thought my judgment of Tennessee would come in Norman,” Thamel said. “But my gosh, did I watch Oklahoma just sputter around the field against Houston the other night. Now again, they’re down a bunch of receivers right now and they clearly lack some skill and some pop at Oklahoma. 

“But I do think the path is opening up for Tennessee a little bit to take some momentum, build it, build it, build it.”

Tennessee hosts Florida and Alabama in October before going to Georgia in November, highlighting the “path” that Thamel mentioned. 

“For Tennessee,” Thamel said, “I think you’re catching people at the right time.”