Last week, the Red Wolves defeated Montana State 37-10. The offense was firing on all cylinders accumulating for 547 total yards on offense. Junior QB Fredi Knighten led the offense completing 19 of 29 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 93 yards on 16 carries.
Tennessee’s defense will be a little more comfortable dealing with Knighten due to his similar playing style of Utah State’s senior QB Chuckie Keeton.
"He is explosive, dynamic with the ball in his hands. He has to be accounted for with all he does. He can distribute the football. He can flip field position and change the game in one snap,” said Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones.
The Vols’ will be looking to show improvements in the running department after a poor showing last week averaging only 2.8 yards per carry.
21 of the 39 carries were split between senior RB Marlin Lane and the new five star freshmen Jalen Hurd. Lane rushed for 41 yards and one touchdown as Hurd rushed for 29 yards.
"When you look at your run game, it is all 11 individuals working together as one. There were about eight incidences where we were running the football, and we were one block away from a big play,” said Jones.
A factor that played into the lack of a rushing game was the inexperienced offensive line. Tennessee is the only team in FBS that is returning zero starters to either the offensive or defensive line. This allowed freshmen to break the starting lineup, as freshmen Joshan Roberton started at offensive guard.
Freshmen tight end Ethan Wolf and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley also cracked the starting lineup Sunday night against Utah State. Throughout the game, a total of 21 true freshmen would play at least one down for the Vols, the most since 2011 when Tennessee played Montana.
When asked about his first game, TE Wolf said, "Tremendous, the fans are crazy. The packed house, I never expected it. I have been to a few games and it has never been this full. It was eye-opening and kind of surreal to begin the game but it was easy to block it out when you get on the field but once you get on the sidelines it comes back in and you realize how many people are supporting us. It is a great feeling.”
The Tennessee-Arkansas State game will be airing on the SEC Network at 12 noon this Saturday, September 6 at Neyland Stadium.
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