GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: Welcoming Charlotte to Neyland Stadium might not be the boon for the struggling Tennessee rushing game that it portends to be. The 49ers run defense ranks No. 1 in Conference USA and sixth nationally, yielding 89.8 yards per game. Charlotte, however, is susceptible with 12 touchdowns allowed on the ground in eight games. Tennessee only has 11 scores on the ground and a rushing attack that ranks in the SEC basement (No. 100 nationally) with a 141.1 yards per contest average.
DRAFT SLANT
–DT Shy Tuttle is coming off a big game against South Carolina, logging his first career interception and second blocked kick. The 6-foot-3, 300-pound senior has 66 career tackles and needs seven more to equal his single season-best 27 take-downs.
ROSTER REPORT:
–LT Trey Smith will likely miss significant time after doctors discovered blood clots in his lungs this week. The sophomore, who is listed as being out indefinitely, is a former Freshman All-American and 2018 member of the preseason All-SEC First Team.
–ILB Jeremy Banks joins Carlin Fils-aime when it comes to making a position switch. The freshman requested to be moved from running back to linebacker during the Georgia game, a move that head coach Jeremy Pruitt acquiesced to two weeks later against Alabama, in which he registered a solo tackle. Banks had rushed for 217 yards on 41 carries. His three touchdowns tie him with Madre London for most on the team.
–FS Micah Abernathy is questionable for the Charlotte game with an ankle injury that’s kept him out of the last three games. The free safety has 18 tackles and a pair of tackles-for-loss on the year. Abernathy has 177 tackles in four seasons in orange and white.