Tennessee Vols will have a major problem from Missouri loss resolved for Georgia

The Tennessee Volunteers were a mess against the Missouri Tigers on both sides of the ball in a 36-7 loss last Saturday.  Tennessee had a dreadful time trying to slow down the Tigers' offense, and had an especially tough time with RB Cody Schrader, who rolled up a ridiculous 321 yards from scrimmage. 

It didn't help when Tennessee STAR Tamarion McDonald went down with an injury during the Tigers' first drive of the game.  As it turns out, McDonald handles a very key role on the Vols' defense. 

As Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez explained on Vol Calls this week, McDonald is, in effect, the quarterback of the defense in that he makes the play calls for the defense. 

"He sets the defense for us on the back end.  I mean, he actually, literally sets up the calls.  So, number one, they've all got to be smart.  Don't get me wrong.  But he plays, also, a position where they put probably the most talented player in the slot position.  He's going to be covering them, and week in, week out, play in, play out.  So he's playing against a very versatile player.  But at the same time, too, he's got to set up our defense.  He's got to make the adjustments.  He's got to make the calls, along with the safeties.  And T-Mac has done a great job now in his third year with us and second year starting.  It shows up in games, his leadership, his physicality." - Willie Martinez via Vol Radio Network

Clearly, when McDonald left during the first drive of the game, the Vols lost an experienced player who handles an extremely important role every down for Tennessee's defense.  McDonald is fourth on the team with 40 total tackles and second in passes defended with 4. 

Fortunately, it appears that they won't have to worry about that shortcoming in the Vols' biggest game of the year this Saturday against the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.  Per VolQuest's Brent Hubbs on Friday morning on the Ramon, Kayla, and Will show on Nashville's 104.5 The Zone, McDonald will play on Saturday, albeit less than 100%, and his importance in pre-snap situations for the Vols' defense is paramount. 

"I think one of the key things for this game, too - and I don't think I understood it at the time, and talking to people this week, it seems it was a bigger deal than I thought - Tamarion McDonald went out in the fourth play of that game at Missouri at the star or the nickel position and didn't return.  He's going to play on Saturday, although not 100 percent.  I think they missed him pre-snap a lot because I think he helps a great deal getting everybody set in the back end of the defense.  Not just the secondary - at times certainly he helps the linebackers get set some in third down situations or in pass call situations, so I think not having him out there was a big deal on Saturday, a much bigger deal than I thought it was at the time.  Not saying that's the reason Tennessee lost - they got hammered on all fronts.  But that was part of the defensive issues where (Vols linebackers coach) Brian Jean-Mary talked about some of the pre-snap communication issues they had.  I think part of that was because McDonald was not out there and you were playing Jourdan Thomas, a second-year player who had 10 SEC snaps going into that game last Saturday and ended up playing 74." - Brent Hubbs via 104.5 The Zone

It goes without saying that the Vols have to be close to perfect defensively in order to have a chance to pull the upset over Georgia this weekend.  Tennessee simply doesn't have the explosiveness in the passing game to pull off a high-scoring shootout like they did last season in toppling Alabama 52-49.  

As such, making the right calls and being in the right position pre-snap is extremely important for Tennessee on Saturday.  Fortunately, it sounds like they're going to have one of the most important players on the field back to help them try to give Vol fans one last shot at an unforgettable moment in the 2023 season.