COMMENTARY: Tennessee defense won't be truly defined until Texas

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Saturday night’s game cost Arion Carter $3,416.

But it was money well spent.

The Tennessee linebacker has pledged to donate $427 to fight cancer for every tackle he makes. He had eight in the Volunteers’ 45-24 win over Georgia Tech.

The amount comes from what he was given from an agent to go to an NFL training facility. When he chose to return to Tennessee, he re-paid the agent, but still was suspended for a game because of it.

Instead of letting the chip on his shoulder fester, he turned that anger into something positive.

Carter and fellow linebacker Amare Campbell turned the Tennessee defense into something positive against the Yellow Jackets. They led the way with eight tackles each. Dejuan Lane had a pick-six, Mariyon Dye had a pair of sacks and linebacker Jeremiah Telander had another interception.

But, we still don’t know a lot about the Tennessee defense.

And we aren’t going to find out anytime soon.

Look for the same game plan to be set for Kennesaw State this week that was implemented for Furman. Texas, in two weeks, won’t have a clue of what Jim Knowles is capable of doing before that noon kickoff.

Beating Georgia Tech was imperative if the Vols want any chance of rubbing elbows with the nation’s elite — even for a little while. 

Now that it has been accomplished, the Vols can take a deep breath and move on to the next challenge. 

It was accomplished according to plan. Tennessee shut down the Georgia Tech run game, yielding just 135 yards, and dared quarterback Alberto Mendoza to win the game. He threw for 221 yards, but heaved the ball 40 times. When a team throws 40 passes, it’s likely a sign of trouble.

It was. 

Mendoza had trouble going downfield. What bailed him out more than a few times were 14 penalties that cost Tennessee 142 yards. Those numbers give coach Josh Heupel an opportunity to get his players’ attention in practice this week.

Texas will be a much different animal when it comes to picking poison and daring someone to beat you. Arch Manning threw for 195 yards in a 24-23 win over Ohio State and the Longhorns rushed for 141 yards.

The 20-point comeback victory was the largest fourth-quarter rally against a No. 1 team in college football history.

Texas gets a breather this week against UTSA before heading to Neyland Stadium for a noon showdown with the Vols in an atmosphere that’s going to be nothing short of frenzied throughout the entire game.

No telling what Knowles is going to come up with.

But you can bet it’s going to be fun. 

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