Tennessee 56, UTEP 0: Advanced Box Score
Just when I think we're out, they pull us back in
After a slow start, Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the Vols, getting the blowout Senior Day win against UTEP, while every domino that needed to fall for UT to get back into playoff position fell (and then some).
Five Factor Review
I’ve been begging for the points per opportunity to match the rest of the offense’s production, and while it came against a bad CUSA team, it finally happened. You can’t ask for the five factor chart to look much better than this. If anything, you could gripe about the havoc rate being just 25%, although the UTEP QBs probably feel like it was closer to 100%.
Rushing Report
That 0% power success is better characterized as N/A, because Tennessee did not have a non-garbage time rush on 3rd or 4th and short. There were two such plays late in the game and UT converted both with Cam Seldon carrying the ball, so you could also call the Vols 100% in that category.
Player Usage & PPA
The Blue Blaze Offense, the Orange Swarm Defense, and the Wefense Unit together couldn’t do enough to get the Miners on the board. Skyler Locklear ended with 5.3 PPA, the second-highest total by an opposing QB this year and just the third starting QB to complete a game with positive PPA against the Vols in the last 12 games. Locklear mostly accumulated that stat on the ground, in the first quarter, leading UTEP with 34 yards on the ground, and going 7-10 passing in the second quarter.
Nico Iamaleava had an outstanding 2nd quarter, going 10/11 for 133 yards and 3 TDs, and an 11-yard rush thrown in too. Nico’s one incompletion was a spike to stop the clock in a one-minute 54-yard touchdown drive end the half with a 28-0 lead. Dylan Sampson broke another couple of Gene McEver’s school records, this time for total touchdowns (22) and points (132) in a single season by a Vol. Sampson also got a little more involved with the passing game, catching just two passes, but more importantly, converting both those receptions into first downs. Those wrinkles could come into play more as the Vols look to extend their season into December with a road win over Vanderbilt on Saturday.