Tennessee’s defense was bad last year. There’s no need to go much deeper into that general truth — we all watched it, and the numbers back it up.
But, of course, there were a few considerable, mitigating factors: the lack of SEC-caliber talent on the roster, the attrition from the coaching staff change that exacerbated aforementioned deficit of good players and the the pace at which Tennessee’s own offense runs both likely rank at the top of those factors/ rationales/ reasons/ excuses.
The Vols’ secondary might have been the worst of the bad, considering UT finished 124th in the country (out of 130 total teams, via Team Rankings) in passing yards allowed per game and 11th out of 14 SEC teams in passing yards per-attempt surrendered.