The keys for Tennessee to win this game against Oklahoma? Could it actually start on the defensive side of the football?

You are locked on balls, your daily podcast on the Tennessee Volunteers, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What is up, everybody? Welcome into it your Friday morning, Locked-on Vols. I am your host, Eric Kane. Really do appreciate you guys making time to make Locked-on Balls your first listen, your first watch each and every single morning. We are a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Where does your team every single day? In today's episode, it's brought to you apart by our friends over at Mazda.

Like our players, we sweat every detail because when you make every move counts, pulling off the unexpected is only the beginning. Stay tuned later in the show for the highlights of this week's Mazda moving the game forward, where you can move and you can be moved. I got a big show coming up here today. Boogie Bentley is going to stop by for his

Friday hit, segments two and three. But before that, here's how Tennessee is going to beat Oklahoma

and why I think it starts actually on the defensive side of the football. I know, I know. Hold on,

guys, hold on. I'm going to show my work right here. And it's something that we've mentioned a few

times throughout the week, but I just think it's a really, really good opportunity to get after John Mateer. Tennessee's

defense, we know, hadn't stopped hardly anybody all year long, but what it does do at an elite

level has been really impressive. It gets takeaways. It scores defensive touchdowns like, you know, tied or leading

the nation or whatever it is. Also, before the last six to seven quarters, Tennessee was elite

at sacking the quarterback. I think that's going to return this week. And so many times we talk

about, man, this offensive line, Tennessee is about the play. It's batter and bruised. It's injured. They've got a true freshman here. They had to flip their right tackle

over here to play left guard, stuff like that. Think about that Georgia last year. The one that

really comes to mind is Ohio State during the playoffs, right? Like, who's going to play where

on the offensive line? And that's not necessarily musical chairs to an extent, but Oklahoma's got a lot of questions about the offensive line.

Specifically, well, I wouldn't say questions.

They've just got a lot of youth because of some injuries in front of them.

And so I think what an opportunity here for Tennessee defense to get after Jomater, a guy that, as I've mentioned all week long, I don't think

he's playing nearly as well as he played before the injury. I think that it's a confidence

issue, and I'm still not convinced that, and Oklahoma people can say whatever they want, but I just,

I do not think that his thumb is 100%. I mean, it's 17 days post-op. He was back playing against Texas. That is

just, that's not how things work, right? Like, that's just, that's not how real life is. But it was,

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