Tennessee's running game wasn't the highlight topic of the SEC offseason. However, after Saturday's performance, the Volunteers' two-back system looks like it's going to be stealing headlines -- and soon forcing its way into the league's upper echelon.
The conference is well-accustomed to gaudy performances on the ground. There was good reason for the hype surrounding the running games at Georgia, Alabama, Auburn and Arkansas. Those four teams ranked in the top half of the conference in rushing last season and return key components -- returning running backs, offensive linemen or, more simply, the incumbent system. Or all of the above. Big rushing numbers are the expectation for that group.
Tennessee, on the other hand, struggled to get its rushing attack going at times.
The Volunteers finished ranked 92nd nationally in yards per game on the ground (13th in the SEC), despite the emergence of true freshman running back Jalen Hurd. The line wasn't consistent, but with all the pieces back there was plenty of reason to believe a talented young team would take a step forward.
If Saturday's 59-30 win over Bowling Green offered any hints, that step forward could be quite significant. Tennessee combined to rush for 399 yards in the victory, the most single-game rushing yards the school has gained this century.
On one hand, yes, it's Bowling Green. The Falcons were terrible against the run last season (105th nationally in efficiency) and lost both starting defensive ends and three of their top four linebackers. An SEC team should be able to take advantage of that mismatch. Then again, the Volunteers have played plenty of non-Power Five teams over the past 15 years ... and yet none of those teams rolled up nearly 400 rushing yards.
(The 2009 team came closest by posting 380 rushing yards on Western Kentucky. More on that game in a minute.)
The improvement centers around the return of Hurd.
The 6-foot-3 former blue-chip recruit does not fit the profile of the typical running back, but he lived up to his prep billing in Year 1. Hurd established himself as the Vols' go-to back while rushing for 899 yards and five touchdowns, capping the effort with a dominant two-touchdown effort against Iowa in the bowl game. With four starting offensive linemen returning, expectations, particularly for Hurd, one of the top young running backs in the country, began rising as soon as the final Taxslayer Bowl whistle sounded.
Butch Jones had a potential ace up his sleeve, too.
As well as Jones' Tennessee staff has recruited out of the high-school ranks in recent seasons, one of his top recruits came out of the junior-college ranks -- and a former prized pickup of rival Alabama. Redshirt sophomore Alvin Kamara enters the equation from Hutchinson Community College and, as long as Kamara can come close to his prep billing, immediately gives Tennessee a potent 1-2 punch.
The early results? Promising. Very, very promising.
In a competitive first half against Bowling Green, the Hurd-Kamara duo established quickly itself. The Vols' first drive of the season was capped by Hurd's eight-yard touchdown. Kamara matched the effort less than two minutes later with a 10-yard score. The third drive was capped by Hurd's goal-line touchdown. All of that happened before the first quarter was over. It just kept getting worse for the Falcons.
Helped along by the rushing threat of quarterback Joshua Dobbs, Hurd and Kamara each eclipsed the 100-yard mark and combined for five touchdowns, capped by the breakaway 56-yard score by Kamara to end the third quarter. It was the first time two Tennessee players have rushed for at least 100 yards in the same game since that 2009 game against Western Kentucky (Montario Hardesty, Bryce Brown).
Kamara's 144 rushing yards were the most ever by a Vols player in his first game. Meanwhile, Hurd (123 yards) hit the century mark for the fifth time in his young career.
The Tennessee hype train wasn't derailed on Saturday. If anything, it picked up steam. Regardless of the opponent, the Hurd-Kamara tandem is going to be a problem for opposing defensive coordinators. If the running game is going to not only improve, but take leaps like this forward, that dream date in Atlanta might not be too farfetched.
