Big plays hurting Tennessee's defense

photo Tennessee defenders A.J. Johnson (45) Owen Williams (58) and Jalen Reeves-Maybin jump onto Utah State running back Joe Hill during their game on Aug. 31, 2014, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.

KNOXVILLE - Tennessee's defense cut down on the number of big plays allowed during the first half of the season.

The issue that plagued the Volunteers in the past two seasons reared its ugly head the past two weeks.

After giving up just 16 plays of 20-plus yards in its first six games, Tennessee surrendered up 12 such plays against Ole Miss and Alabama in its past two games.

Those dozen plays accounted for 419 yards, or 49 percent of what the Vols allowed to the Rebels and Crimson Tide.

Defensive coordinator John Jancek said after Wednesday's practice "a variety of things" have been the root of the problem.

"I don't compare from week to week," he said. "Every week is a new season, and there's new challenges with the offense that we face. We stay consistent with our messaging. It's fundamentals, it's tackling, it's communication, it's doing the things necessary on each and every single play to be successful as an entire defense, and that really doesn't change."

Tennessee gave up touchdowns of 39 and 28 yards to Ole Miss, and Alabama got scoring plays of 80, 41 and 28 yards in sprinting out to a 27-0 lead the Vols could not overcome.

The Tide had 253 yards of offense in the first quarter, but Tennessee held them to just 216 yards in the final three quarters.

A couple of defensive players said after Tuesday's practice they settled down as a unit after Alabama's blitz, and Tennessee coach Butch Jones attributed what he called "uncharacteristic" errors by his defense to some early game anxiety.

"I wouldn't say we were too jacked up," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said, "but they came out and hit us kind of fast. I guess we just weren't prepared for it. We weren't ready to jump on them the way they jumped on, us but I don't think there was any anxiety."

Jancek made it clear Tennessee's defense is learning from it.

"We flinched," he said. "We shoulder that responsibility. We're not shaking it off. There are no moral. You either win or lose, and either you play well or you don't play well. No, it was not just, 'Shake it off and move on.'"

Jake on Josh

This time a couple of weeks ago, Josh Dobbs was third in the pecking order behind Justin Worley and Nathan Peterman and heading toward a redshirt season.

Now the sophomore may be carrying the Vols into the stretch run after accounting for 267 yards of offense last week, which certainly will change a player's approach to practice.

"There's an added level of confidence I would say," offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian said. "If it's anything it's an illustration of the work that needs to be done and where he can improve. Now it's maybe a little more tangible because he's been able to get some game-speed reps in that setting."

Bajakian said he wasn't surprised how well Dobbs, who struggled in practice in August and September, performed against Alabama, and he echoed Jones's comments about the key being the consistency in his throwing accuracy.

"Josh has a lot of talent and works hard at his craft," he said. "Throughout the course of last year and last spring and this training camp (he) has gotten better and better. Obviously for all of our guys, but particularly for Josh, the key is to remain consistent. That's where, even in the course of this game, we need to improve from week to week with him."

Worley update

On his radio show Wednesday night, Jones said injured quarterback Justin Worley "had his spots" during Wednesday's practice, the open-viewing period of which included the quarterbacks only working on snaps, handoffs and pocket presence.

Worley's playing status hinges on his shoulder being healthy enough to throw the ball effectively enough, and Jones said he's "not there yet."

Bracing for a blackout

South Carolina will wear black jerseys and black pants for Tennessee's visit on Saturday night, Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier confirmed on Wednesday's SEC coaches teleconference.

The Vols wore black jerseys for South Carolina's visit in 2009, a 31-13 win by the Vols.

Jones often reminded his team of the Gamecocks' plan in a couple of playful ways during Wednesday's practice.

"Some of the players for the last couple of years have been wanting to wear a black jersey," Spurrier said. "Maybe it'll put a little inspiration in our guys, who knows. We need something to get us a little bit more motivated, so we've got some black jerseys ordered. Our school colors are garnet and black."

Spurrier talks Vols

In his tenures at Duke, Florida and South Carolina, Spurrier is 14-9 against Tennessee, and the Vols are one of seven teams against which the Ol' Ball Coach has 10 or more wins (Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, LSU, Auburn and South Carolina are the others.). Spurrier is 5-4 against the Vols at South Carolina.

"Tennessee's a good team," he said. "Tennessee plays hard. They play with a lot of effort. Butch Jones and his staff have got those guys really flying around, and they've been, I think, a little bit snake-bit this year, losing some close games. It appeared they outplayed Alabama in the second half last week, even though they got behind early.

"Tennessee's always one of the big games of the year for us."

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