We built our defensive stats this year feasting on offenses that were anywhere between somewhat above average to bad. I think that's a fair assessment. And we faced an excellent offense on Saturday and it didn't go as well as we would have liked. We gave up 4.95 yards per play against that really good offense. As a comparison, UGA gave up 5.85 yards per play against Ole Miss. But Ole Miss only gained 351 yards on UGA....in part because of limited possessions and UGA having a better offense than we do (keeping Ole Miss' offense off the field). We gave up several explosive plays and although Ole Miss only converted on 43% of 3rd downs, they did convert on 2/3 on 4th down. It was the situational 3rd and 4th downs that kept drives alive and really extended our defense.
Having said that, Tennessee makes a living off of explosive plays. That will be the #1 key on Saturday....limiting the big plays. Tennessee will get several chunk plays because they are really good on offense. But if we are to stay with them and have a chance, our offense has to run the ball somewhat effectively and Mateer has to make the correct decision and throw the damn ball to the correct WR. And then there is the TOs. We have got to find a way to get a couple of TOs. The more I look into the game from a metrics standpoint, the more I like OU to possibly pull this out. But if we make stupid decisions, play undisciplined and are minus in the TO dept., we will lose once again....simple as that.