Game Preview: No. 1 Texas vs No. 14 Tennessee

Following a lackluster offensive performance against UTSA, Texas begins SEC play with a trip to Knoxville to take on Tennessee. Surprisingly, Texas and Tennessee have only played three times, and the programs have not met since 1969. It will be Texas’ first trip to Knoxville, and it should be a rowdy one with College GameDay on site.

It is a big game for both Texas and Tennessee as SEC play begins. Texas needs to start conference play much better than it did last year, when it lost to Florida. For Tennessee, this will be its biggest test of the season so far. The Volunteers enter the game 3-0, but two of those wins came against Furman and Kennesaw State. The other was against a rebuilding Georgia Tech team. You can only play who is on your schedule, but we will learn a lot about Tennessee this weekend.

Texas Must Stop the Run

Tennessee will look to establish the run early and often against Texas. Through three games, the Volunteers are averaging nearly 300 rushing yards per game and almost seven yards per carry. They have not faced a defense as good as Texas’, but you can bet they will look to run the ball at a high clip Saturday.

Josh Heupel runs an offense similar to Art Briles’ system, where the goal is to run the ball effectively before taking deep shots to wide receivers. The receivers line up in wide splits, which makes it harder for defenses to crowd the line of scrimmage. Texas must play with good containment, or it could be a long day.

An effective run game is a young quarterback’s best friend. Tennessee is starting true freshman Faizon Brandon at quarterback, and while he is talented, he is still young. Heupel will look to keep Brandon and the offense out of third-and-long situations and make sure the freshman is not put in a position to lose the game.

Brandon can run, too, and enters the game with three rushing touchdowns. Tennessee has a two-headed monster in the backfield led by DeSean Bishop and Daune Morris. Bishop is the lead back and showed it against Georgia Tech, when he had 20 carries for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Morris is no slouch either, entering the week averaging more than eight yards per carry. He had 10 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown against Georgia Tech.

Tennessee has not been forced to throw the ball much this season, but former five-star wide receiver Mike Matthews is the Volunteers’ top target. Look for Matthews to be called upon more this week than he has been all season.

The Texas Offense Needs To Play a Complete Game

Through three games, the Texas offense has been extremely inconsistent at best. Against Ohio State and UTSA, Texas struggled offensively in six of eight quarters. The Longhorns played an elite fourth quarter against Ohio State, and that is a big reason they enter SEC play 3-0 and ranked No. 1 in the country.

The Texas offense has to produce more consistently starting this week. You cannot expect to win SEC games by playing good offense for one quarter. Not only do you need points to win games, obviously, but when the offense is not sustaining drives, it puts the defense in a poor spot. The way the defense bailed out the offense against Ohio State will not always happen, especially on the road.

Arch does not need to carry the offense on his shoulders like he did last year. The Texas run game is good enough to win games, and Texas should look to establish it early Saturday. One of the best ways to take a crowd out of the game is with long, sustained drives by the opposing offense.

Arch is a talented quarterback, but he needs to be more consistent. Not everything has to be a long pass. It is okay to take what the defense gives you. Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles has faced Steve Sarkisian several times dating back to his time at Iowa State and Ohio State. He will make Arch beat him with intermediate throws and force him to be accurate on the short and mid-range stuff.

It will be a challenge, but the Texas running game can help tremendously. Texas did not have a good run game in its previous matchups against Knowles.