Hopes were high but expectations realistic heading into the 2018 season. A new head coach and staff saw renewed hope for the future, but coming off of a 4-8 campaign, the worst season in program history, fans were just hoping for some improvement. So did improvement come?
Well, the record reflects improvement. While the Vols only improved to 5-7 overall, they won two games in the SEC after going winless in the conference in 2017. Not only did they get a pair of conference wins, but both came over teams ranked in the top 25 at the time. However, a collapse at South Carolina and a pair of no-shows against Vanderbilt and Florida left a terrible taste in fans mouths ultimately in spite of the progress shown. But what do the numbers reflect?
Let's begin with the offensive side of the ball, where the Vols will be looking for a new offensive coordinator after Tyson Helton elected to take the head coaching position at Western Kentucky. Helton has previously served as the offensive coordinator at WKU and was well-liked there, so his return isn't a particular surprise. Vol fans also didn't much care for Helton, blaming offensive shortcomings at times fully on the coordinator, but was it justified? Perhaps not. The Vols saw improvement in yards and points per game over 2017, improving in scoring by 3 points per game and 34.4 yards per game despite an abysmal performance against Vanderbilt that fought hard to undo quite a bit of the progress the team had found. The offense also improved its yards per play from 4.77 to 5.46 yards per play. The Vols also allowed 12 fewer sacks this season and allowed a sack per every 12.9 pass attempts as opposed to one per 9.1 attempts in 2017. The Vols increased their rushing yards, passing yards, rushing and passing touchdowns, and improved their turnover margin. 19.1% of the offensive plays run by the Vols this season went for 10+ yards, up from 18% in 2017. They essentially held steady in carries per tackle for loss allowed at ~4.6 carries per tackle for loss. However, they did show progress in yards per carry (3.7 up from 3.4), yards per pass attempt (7.9 up from 6.5), yards per completion (13.4 up from 11.5), 3rd down conversion percentage (38.22% up from 30.67%), 4th down conversions (45.45% up from 30%), and red zone conversions (88.24% up from 80%). Essentially, the Vols held steady or improved in every offensive category.
Defensively, the results were a little more mixed but largely moved in a positive direction. Yards per play allowed by the Vols this season dropped, along with the yards per game and points per game. The Vols improved in yards per play allowed by reducing the yards allowed from 5.94 to 5.67. The yards per game was a pretty meaningful drop from 412.9 yards per game to 377.4, and they reduced points per game from 29.1 to 27.9. They also increased their interceptions from 5 in 2017 to 9 in 2018, and they also improved their passes defended from 37 to 39. Sticking with the pass defense, they reduced opponents passing yards per completion from 12.6 in 2017 to 12.1 yards in 2018, but they saw increases in passing yards per attempt (7.0 in 2017 to 7.6 in 2018) and passing yards per game allowed (161.7 in 2017 to 222.9 in 2018). Those numbers did coincide with improved run defense. The Vols reduced their rushing yards per game allowed from 251.25 in 2017 to 154.5 yards per game in 2018 while dropping the opponent's yards per carry from 5.4 to 4.1 yards. The Vols also saw improvements in opponent 3rd down conversion from 45.45% to 38.96%, increased their sacks from 22 to 25, and tackles for loss from 61 to 68, but the Vols also saw drops in forced fumbles (15 down to 9), fumble recoveries (10 down to 6), 4th down conversions allowed (40% up to 53.85%), and red zone conversions allowed (90% up to 91.1%). The Vols did manage to slightly reduce the percentage of plays going for 10 or more yards from 19.9% down to 19.5%.
There was a lot of turnover on special teams from 2017 to 2018, but the results remained fairly impressive. The most notable improvements included improving on punt returns from 8 yards per return to 12.8 yards per return and 2 touchdowns (technically as one block was returned for a touchdown), 5 blocked kicks (2 in 2017), improved field goal percentage from 66.7% to 76.9%, a reduction in punt returns allowed from 2.5 to just 0.8 returns per game and in punt return yardage allowed from 7.33 to just 2 yards per return, and holding close to stead in punting and kickoffs despite relying on freshmen to fill those roles. Tennessee has proven to be a strong program in special teams over the past decade and has kept that going.
So what's the verdict on the 2018 season? They showed progress, albeit only incremental progress in some areas. With largely the same team in place for much of the season, the coaching shone through. Unfortunately, sometimes coaching can't overcome a deficit in talent and with a head coach holding his first ever job in that role at any level, there were areas for improvement, both on the roster and in coaching. Ultimately, anyone looking for progress can find it, but anyone looking for negatives will be able to find plenty as well. The 2018 season is what you elect to make of it. It was the first step for a new staff, and it was one that displayed incremental improvements. However, 2019 will need to show a much bigger jump, especially with a more forgiving schedule overall.
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