Tennessee football 2008: Defensive line

Tennessee defensive end Robert Ayers sacks Wisconsin quarterback Tyler Donovan during the Outback Bowl on Tuesday in Tampa, Fla. The No. 16 Vols, playing without six players who were declared academically ineligible, beat No.18 Wisconsin 21-17 and finished the season 10-4.

Tennessee's Dan Williams tackles South Carolina quarterback Blake Mitchell as he passes on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The Vols survived a second-half defensive collapse to win 27-24 in overtime, improving to 5-3 for the season.

Go ahead and ask the same questions about Tennessee's defensive line this fall. Just don't expect the same answer.

One of the Vols' most maligned units in 2007 should be improved for 2008.

For starters, UT returns a pair of tackles in senior Demonte' Bolden and junior Dan Williams who could compete for All-SEC honors.

While there's turnover at end with senior Robert Ayers and junior Wes Brown likely replacing Antonio Reynolds and Xavier Mitchell in the starting lineup, the Vols should have a little more speed on the outside.

Ayers, a major contributor last season, earned accolades during spring practice, while Brown has made leaps in technique. Sophomores Ben Martin and Chris Walker add to that speed and depth outside.

"Robert Ayers, Wes and Ben - those three guys will give us a better speed dimension coming off the edge than we've had in a couple years," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said.

And, as far as the defensive line goes, more speed equals more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

After spring practice, defensive coordinator John Chavis was optimistic about UT's ability to bring pressure with its front four.

"We'll see as the season goes on, but certainly I feel like we're at a much better point than we were at this time last year," Chavis said following spring practice. "Those two ends (Brown and Ayers) have created a lot of that situation for us."

It wasn't a great situation for most of last season. Aside from a six-sack performance against Kentucky, 2007 was another subpar year of pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

Only two defensive linemen had sacks against the Wildcats, which ranked last in the SEC with 38 sacks allowed. And the Vols recorded just six sacks against their other seven conference opponents in the regular season. Three times - against Vanderbilt, Florida and Cal - the Vols didn't record a sack.

Getting more pressure on opposing quarterbacks is a major question mark for the Vols, who had 17 sacks in 2006 and 25 total in their 14 games in 2007.

Another concern is depth at tackle.

Last year, Williams was a pleasant surprise who earned a starting role by outplaying J.T. Mapu. The Vols would love another surprise from senior Walter Fisher.

Fisher, a Nashville native and UT's best reserve at defensive tackle, came to Tennessee as a five-star prospect at defensive end and the No. 2-ranked junior college player in the class of 2006 by Rivals.com.

So far, though, Fisher has just 35 tackles to his credit at UT and has yet to start a game, although he improved throughout the fall and in spring practice.

The Vols could use some improvement from reserve tackles Victor Thomas, Donald Langley and Chase Nelson as well to improve depth behind Williams and Bolden.

Consistency is a major sticking point, too.

The Vols turned in some stellar performances against opposing runners in wins over Georgia, Mississippi State and Arkansas. They also were beat up by Cal (230 yards rushing), Florida (255 yards rushing) and LSU (212 yards rushing).

"At times last year, we were as bad as we've been," Chavis said. "And then at times, against some of the better teams, we were as good as we've been. The thing I want us to do is be more consistent."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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