Former Alabama QB explains why he’s questioning if the Tennessee Vols’ offense is actually good in 2024

Is the Tennessee Vols’ offense as good as everyone thinks it is this season?

That’s the question that former Alabama quarterback/ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy asked this week while previewing Tennessee’s upcoming game against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

 

The reason behind McElroy’s sudden questioning of the Vols’ offense?

 

It’s mainly because he’s not sure that Oklahoma’s defense is as good as advertised (Tennessee beat Oklahoma 25-15 last month in Norman).

 

“How good is the Tennessee offense? Tennessee’s offense has been one of the most productive this year,” said McElroy. “Number one in points per game. They’re fourth in rushing yards per game with 290 (yards per game). But there is a legitimate question now — especially after last week watching Oklahoma’s defense against Auburn. I don’t think anybody looks at Auburn and says, ‘yeah, you know what, Auburn’s offense is the real deal, man, they put you in a lot of strain’. So after watching Oklahoma’s defense against Auburn, I started to think myself are they? Is Oklahoma’s defense really one of the top groups in the country?

 

“And then I dove into the numbers just a little bit. And while Tennessee has faced quality teams — I think NC State’s quality for the most part. I think Kent State’s terrible. I think Oklahoma, I thought was better. Well, NC State’s 93rd on defense. Kent State is dead last, and Oklahoma is actually 48th in college football in total defense, which I was surprised by. They’re 34th in yards per play given up. So just taking that into account, that might be because they played Tennessee. And because they played Tennessee, their numbers got inflated. But watching them against Auburn, there were a couple big plays given up, so I started to think, ok, hang on, maybe Oklahoma is not as good as we thought they were on defense. But still, we’re going to find out all we need to know about Tennessee on offense. I think they’re really good by the way, just saying it is a question.”

 

That’s a fair question from McElroy, even if most folks believe strongly in the Vols’ offense (and it should be noted that the former Bama quarterback pointed out that he still thinks UT’s offense is pretty good).

 

Tennessee will face tougher competition as they continue in SEC play. And the offense will be asked to win some of those games (unlike the Oklahoma game).

 

But for now, I think the Vols’ offense probably deserves the benefit of the doubt. They did what they were supposed to do against inferior competition (Chattanooga, NC State, and Kent State), putting up 191 points in the first three games of the season.

 

The game against Oklahoma was unique. The Sooners’ defense had a great plan against the Vols, but Tennessee was still able to hit on a couple of big plays. Vols head coach Josh Heupel, however, trusted his defense to win the game instead of putting his redshirt freshman quarterback in a position where a turnover could lose the game. It’s not an approach we’ve seen often from Heupel, but it’s what was needed to ensure a victory against Oklahoma (and ultimately, the only stat that matters is the win/loss column).

 

Tennessee can’t help where their opponents are ranked defensively. All the Vols can do is go out and do what they have to do to get a win. And that’s what they’ve done through the first four games of the 2024 season.

 

Eventually, we’ll see the Vols in a game where the offense has to win it. Until that scenario pops up, it’s hard to question much about Tennessee’s offense.