John Jancek had the statement ready to go.
“Turnovers are the No. 1 statistic in determining who wins and loses football games,” the Tennessee defensive coordinator said after Wednesday’s practice.
Perhaps this week, that declaration carries an added dose of importance for the bowl-seeking Volunteers, which welcomes in a Kentucky team that owns the SEC’s third-best turnover margin at plus 8. On the season, the Wildcats have corralled 13 interceptions and recovered six fumbles.
“They do a great job of taking the ball away,” offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian said. “I think they have 13 interceptions on the season, as well as sack and fumble recoveries. We always stress ball security. We have since day one. It’s always been at the top of our priority list and will continue to be.
“But we’ve definitely placed an extra emphasis on it this week.”
On the flipside, the Wildcats have kept the offensive miscues to a minimum — somewhat of a rarity considering Kentucky’s recent skid. Although the Wildcats enter Saturday’s contest on a four-game losing streak, Kentucky’s coughed the ball up just three times in that quartet of defeats — none of which included more than two turnovers a game.
But even with the Wildcats’ apparent content of not forcing unnecessary risks, UT’s defense isn’t planning on toning down the aggressiveness anytime soon.
“We can’t sit there like ducks; you can’t play defense like that,” defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said. “So we’ve got to pick our times, but we’re going to play our gameplan just like we do going into every game. We’ll do the things that we think can help us succeed, which starts with trying to make them one-dimensional.”
Developing defensive depth: Following UT’s recent bye week, where many of the younger Vols picked up valuable first-team reps, Jancek noted that a plethora of reserves continue to garner attention in practice.
Specifically, UT’s defensive coordinator pegged defensive backs Rashaan Gaulden, Evan Berry and Todd Kelly Jr.— as well as freshman defensive end Dewayne Hendrix — as underclassmen who benefitted from the added reps.
Even so, Jancek emphasized that UT’s defensive depth is “still a ways away” from being at an appropriate level – one where starters don’t have to play close to triple-digit snaps every Saturday.
“We have to go through another recruiting cycle and ink some of these guys in February and get them in here and get them going,” Jancek said. “It’s a process, and it doesn’t happen in one or two years. It takes a while to get these guys in your program, get them developed and develop your culture and the way you want to train.
“Our whole defense plays too many snaps. We literally have players through defensive repetitions and special teams reps that play over 90 snaps a game. That’s crazy. We’re not going to use any of that as an excuse, but on the same note, the reality is that’s an awful lot of snaps to be playing. It is what it is.”
‘A culmination of things’: After allowing a combined 1,094 yards in the last two games, the Vols’ defense has come under scrutiny for not lining up with UT’s suddenly-surging offense. On Wednesday, Jancek offered up a laundry list of reasons for the defensive shortcomings.
“It’s always a combination of things,” he said. “Sometimes it’s poor technique. Sometimes it’s a really good call by an offense versus an area of weakness in a defense.
“Those are certainly going to happen throughout the game. Some of them are missed tackles. Some of them are mistakes and busts on our end. It’s always a culmination of things. We look at them, and we categorize them. And we just continue to work to eliminate them. That’s the big thing.”
