The Volquest weekly stock report
Tennessee continues its preparations for Saturday’s showdown with Alabama in a battle of two unbeaten teams in just a huge SEC game. The Vols are coming off a beatdown of LSU and Alabama a scare by Texas A&M. Coming off the huge win on the Bayou we take a look at who’s hot, what’s not, and what’s flat in the weekly Volquest stock report.
Stock up
The offensive line — I didn’t see a 263 yard day on the ground in Baton Rouge. The Tigers had been good against the run giving up just over 100 yards a game. Tennessee without Gerald Mincey didn’t miss a beat and had their best running day of the year averaging over 5 yards a carry. The offensive line also didn’t get up a sack and LSU only had 2 TFL’s on the day. It was a terrific performance by Glen Elerbee’s guys in the trenches. — Brent Hubbs
Jalin Hyatt and special teams —That’s correct, I’m going with two this week and there’s no stock down for me following Tennessee’s 40-13 win over LSU.
Let’s start with Jalin Hyatt. The South Carolina native had 4 catches for 63 yards and two scores in Baton Rouge. For the season he now has 27 catches for 388 yards and 5 touchdowns. He’s averaging 14.4 yards a catch. In his first two years he has 41 total catches and 4 total touchdowns. Hyatt has done a complete 180 from a year ago where he was a non-factor for most of September and October. He’s playing with great confidence
Top 10
- 1Hot
Strength of Schedule
CFP Top 25 SOS ranking
- 2
Alabama needs a prayer
Tide can make the CFP but needs help
- 3
3 ACC teams in CFP?
Path for ACC outlined
- 4
Taco Bell offers Oklahoma
Brent Venables story pays dividends
- 5
New CFP Top 25
College Football Playoff rankings revealed
How about the kicking game for Tennessee. A terrific recovery on the opening kickoff by Will Brooks. A beautifully blocked punt return. Coverage teams were great. Paxton Brooks pinned LSU inside the 5 and Chase McGrath was 4 of 5 on field goal attempts. Paxton Brooks still needs to operate a little factor and Tennessee’s special teams will be tested more on Saturday but they were a huge part of the win Saturday in Tiger Stadium — Austin Price
Stock down
Tackling in the secondary — Tennessee has had a hard time covering guys in the secondary all year. But they have been pretty solid tackling. At LSU according to Pro Football Focus, the secondary missed 7 tackles. Against Florida they missed 7. Tennessee must tackle better in the backend of the defense this week or Alabama will make them pay with big plays. — Brent Hubbs
Stock stagnant
Injuries/playing status — Will they play or won’t they play? That’s a huge story line in this game. For Tennessee, will Cedric Tillman be able to go and what’s the playing status for safety Jaylen McCollough who was arrested Sunday night. On the Alabama side it’s all about Bryce Young. Will he be able to go or won’t he? That’s the question everyone has heading into the final days before kickoff.— Brent Hubbs and Austin Price
