No. 15 Tennessee 69, Chattanooga 3: Pro Football Focus grades, snap counts
Snap counts and grades from Pro Football Focus following No. 15 Tennessee’s 69-3 win over Chattanooga to open the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium:
Offense
| Player | Overall Grade | Snap Count | Pass | Pass Block | Run | Run Block |
| RB Dylan Sampson | 89.7 | 28 | 88.5 | 49.5 | 86.0 | 60.0 |
| QB Nico Iamaleava | 87.3 | 54 | 91.2 | – | 47.1 | 60.0 |
| WR Dont’e Thornton | 85.2 | 17 | 82.3 | – | – | 60.3 |
| WR Trey Weary | 84.4 | 17 | 82.2 | – | – | 61.5 |
| OL Cooper Mays | 79.4 | 54 | – | 81.8 | – | 75.3 |
| RB DeSean Bishop | 75.7 | 15 | 68.8 | 67.9 | 75.4 | – |
| WR Bru McCoy | 75.6 | 41 | 73.7 | – | 63.2 | 60.7 |
| TE Ethan Davis | 75.4 | 18 | 78.9 | 67.5 | – | 54.6 |
| OL Andrej Karic | 73.6 | 43 | – | 74.7 | – | 74.2 |
| OL Javontez Spraggins | 72.2 | 44 | – | 82.8 | – | 71.0 |
| QB Gaston Moore | 72.2 | 23 | 71.6 | – | – | 60.0 |
| RB Khalifa Keith | 71.6 | 17 | 56.8 | 70.1 | 70.4 | 60.0 |
| TE Holden Staes | 68.5 | 25 | 69.1 | 64.5 | – | 59.3 |
| OL Larry Johnson III | 67.9 | 32 | – | 63.0 | – | 67.7 |
| OL Lance Heard | 65.9 | 45 | – | 78.0 | – | 59.6 |
| WR Chris Brazzell II | 65.4 | 54 | 64.8 | – | – | 61.9 |
| OL John Campbell Jr. | 64.4 | 37 | – | 60.2 | – | 64.5 |
| OL William Satterwhite | 64.3 | 23 | – | 78.2 | – | 60.9 |
| OL Dayne Davis | 63.0 | 25 | – | 78.7 | – | 57.1 |
| WR Nathan Leacock | 62.5 | 26 | 61.8 | – | – | 62.4 |
| RB Cameron Seldon | 62.4 | 25 | 56.3 | 74.2 | 63.5 | 60.0 |
| OL Bennett Warren | 61.4 | 17 | – | 74.1 | – | 59.0 |
| OL Vysen Lang | 61.0 | 17 | – | 74.1 | – | 59.3 |
| OL Jackson Lampley | 60.0 | 44 | – | 82.7 | – | 54.7 |
| WR Kaleb Webb | 59.7 | 33 | 59.4 | – | – | 62.1 |
| WR Chas Nimrod | 59.4 | 24 | 59.2 | – | – | 61.0 |
| OL Ayden Bussell | 59.1 | 17 | – | 74.0 | – | 57.6 |
| RB Peyton Lewis | 58.3 | 9 | 56.5 | – | 58.9 | – |
| WR Dayton Sneed | 57.4 | 26 | 57.0 | – | – | 61.7 |
| WR Squirrel White | 57.0 | 44 | 56.7 | – | – | 60.0 |
| OL Jesse Perry | 55.8 | 32 | – | 76.0 | – | 51.1 |
| TE Cole Harrison | 55.5 | 17 | 55.7 | – | – | 53.3 |
| OL Shamurad Umarov | 55.4 | 23 | – | 34.1 | – | 57.3 |
| OL Brian Grant | 53.0 | 17 | – | 74.0 | – | 51.2 |
| TE Miles Kitselman | 48.3 | 25 | 52.1 | 64.5 | – | 55.7 |
| QB Jake Merklinger | 48.0 | 17 | 52.5 | – | 53.1 | 60.0 |
| TE Charlie Browder | 42.0 | 9 | 37.4 | – | – | 57.6 |
Nico Iamaleava was done after the first half, after completing 22 of 28 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns while leading Tennessee to a 45-0 lead at halftime. Iamaleava set a new Tennessee program record for passing yards in a half.
Gaston Moore started the third quarter, going 7-for-12 for 69 yards with one interception. Freshman Jake Merklinger completed all four of his attempts for 31 yards.
Dylan Sampson led Tennessee on the ground with 12 rushes for 124 yards and three touchdowns. DeSean Bishop had five carries for 60 yards and a touchdown, Cameron Seldon ran seven times for 47 yards, Khalifa Keith had 10 carries for 43 yards and a touchdown and Peyton Lewis carried four times for 14 yards.
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Bru McCoy led Tennessee in receptions (6) and targets (7). Dont’e Thornton caught three passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Brazzell III caught five passes for 59 yards.
Tennessee had 718 yards of total offense, just seven yards shy of setting a program record. The Vols had 724 yards of total offense while putting up 66 points against Missouri in November 2022.
Defense
| Player | Overall Grade | Snap Count | Run Defense | Tackle | Pass Rush | Coverage |
| DL Tyre West | 88.3 | 16 | 86.8 | 73.7 | 66.0 | – |
| LB Keenan Pili | 82.8 | 15 | 76.6 | 76.3 | – | 71.0 |
| LB Jalen Smith | 75.3 | 24 | 81.6 | 79.4 | 59.5 | 62.7 |
| DL Omari Thomas | 74.0 | 15 | 55.4 | 22.1 | 88.6 | – |
| CB Jordan Matthews | 73.0 | 23 | 61.5 | 73.5 | – | 73.0 |
| LB Kalib Perry | 72.1 | 27 | 68.9 | – | 63.1 | 64.1 |
| CB Jermod McCoy | 71.8 | 28 | 61.2 | 76.2 | – | 72.1 |
| LB Jeremiah Telander | 71.8 | 25 | 83.5 | 57.3 | 58.9 | 57.2 |
| DL Joshua Josephs | 71.5 | 15 | 72.5 | 73.0 | 58.5 | 60.2 |
| DB Jakobe Thomas | 71.5 | 19 | 53.4 | 53.1 | – | 78.6 |
| DB Edrees Farooq | 70.6 | 11 | 72.2 | 79.7 | – | 60.6 |
| DL Omarr Norman-Lott | 70.1 | 14 | 65.9 | 72.6 | 67.9 | – |
| DL Carson Gentle | 68.4 | 8 | 67.2 | 71.1 | 59.8 | – |
| DL Elijah Simmons | 67.9 | 14 | 68.2 | 34.3 | 58.1 | – |
| DL Jaxson Moi | 67.0 | 16 | 68.2 | – | 58.2 | – |
| DL Jordan Ross | 66.9 | 8 | 66.5 | 71.1 | 58.5 | – |
| DB Christian Charles | 66.1 | 20 | 60.0 | 76.2 | – | 66.1 |
| DB Jalen McMurray | 65.8 | 32 | 63.3 | 73.5 | – | 65.2 |
| LB Grier Short | 64.7 | 7 | 63.9 | 73.6 | – | – |
| DL Jamal Wallace | 64.6 | 8 | 64.0 | 70.8 | 59.1 | – |
| DL Jayson Jenkins | 64.6 | 13 | 66.1 | – | 57.3 | – |
| DB Marcus Goree | 63.9 | 6 | 63.8 | 74.2 | – | 60.0 |
| DL Daevin Hobbs | 63.6 | 16 | 64.8 | 72.6 | 57.8 | – |
| DB Will Brooks | 63.1 | 27 | 69.7 | 83.5 | – | 57.4 |
| DB John Slaughter | 62.7 | 12 | 61.1 | – | – | 61.5 |
| LB Eli Purcell | 62.7 | 7 | 60.7 | – | – | 61.1 |
| DL Caleb Herring | 61.9 | 20 | 65.0 | 71.5 | 55.9 | – |
| DL Isaiah Inge | 61.4 | 4 | 60.8 | – | 59.8 | – |
| DL Mike Bethea | 61.4 | 4 | 60.8 | – | 59.8 | – |
| DL Kellen Lindstrom | 61.3 | 4 | 60.7 | 23.8 | – | – |
| DB Montrell Bandy | 61.1 | 4 | 60.0 | – | – | 60.0 |
| DB Colin Brazzell | 60.2 | 3 | 60.0 | – | – | – |
| DB Jackson Matthews | 60.1 | 1 | – | – | – | 60.0 |
| DL James Pearce Jr. | 60.1 | 10 | 60.3 | – | 58.0 | 60.0 |
| DB Christian Harrison | 60.1 | 23 | 70.2 | 28.0 | 56.7 | 55.7 |
| DB Steele Katina | 60.0 | 1 | 60.0 | – | – | – |
| DL Tyree Weathersby | 59.9 | 8 | 60.3 | – | 58.5 | – |
| DB Boo Carter | 59.8 | 30 | 68.4 | 77.6 | 60.0 | 52.0 |
| DL Bryson Eason | 58.6 | 15 | 59.6 | 28.3 | 57.6 | – |
| DB Kaleb Beasley | 58.3 | 26 | 63.3 | 76.7 | – | 56.0 |
| LB Ryan Scott | 56.6 | 8 | 56.1 | – | – | 60.0 |
| DB Andre Turrentine | 54.8 | 27 | 68.1 | 27.5 | 59.5 | 47.2 |
| DL Nathan Robinson | 53.7 | 8 | 55.2 | – | 59.1 | – |
| DL Dominic Bailey | 53.7 | 16 | 52.9 | 28.0 | 56.8 | 60.0 |
| DL Tim Ames | 53.3 | 4 | 55.4 | – | – | – |
| LB Arion Carter | 50.6 | 21 | 60.1 | 37.5 | – | 48.1 |
| DL Joshua Helsdon | 42.7 | 8 | 45.3 | – | 59.8 | – |
Will Brooks led Tennessee’s defense with five total tackles. Jeremiah Telander and Arion Carter had four.
Six different players had three tackles and nine players had two tackles. Tyre West had one sack, two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit and one forced fumble. Jordan Matthews had two basses broken up. Boo Carter had two quarterback hits.
Joshua Josephs recovered a fumble in the first quarter and defensive end Jordan Ross blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Chattanooga was held to just 227 total yards and went 1-for-14 on third down. The Mocs rushed 35 times for 74 yards and completed 13 of 24 passes for 153 yards.
