Saturday sees the red-hot Volunteers taking on the scrappy LSU Tigers in Death Valley. The Vols come in ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25. LSU has broken into the coveted top 25 in 25th place after having a sneakily impressive 4-1 record through Week 5. Josh Heupel and company are looking to make a massive statement who are trying to get to a 5-0 record since 2016. Heisman trophy candidate, Hendon Hooker is looking as fiery as ever. Through his last two games, Hooker has thrown for a combined 647 yards, four touchdowns, and had a QBR of 89.8 (vs Akron) and 95.3. (vs Florida)

The two biggest questions for the orange and white revolve around the return of Cedric Tillman and the defensive issues. Tillman has been Robin to Hooker’s Batman throughout the season. The duo has brought electric offense back to Rocky Top. USC transfer Bru McCoy has taken on a larger role in the absence of Tillman as well as Ramel Keyton. In the backfield Jabari Small has taken a large step forward as a rusher and receiver this year.

The defensive unit isn’t bad, let me be clear. The issues arise when the secondary unit is put under the microscope and dissected. Personally, I believe in the scheme that defensive coordinator Tim Banks deploys each week so far. The elephant in the room for defense is that Tennessee lacks depth. Of course this takes time to develop, so I can excuse it. What I can’t excuse is the lapses in aggressiveness. Here’s an example, the final minute and change of the Florida game. The Gators marched down the field after converting on an onside kick. Tennessee was able to force Anthony Richardson into a last ditch heave. It was intercepted. The game ended in closer fashion than expected, with only five points separating the victor from the loser.

Let’s talk about the Tigers for a minute. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t skeptical of the Brian Kelly hire. Honestly to me I felt that he didn’t fit the culture that LSU was trying to establish. Speaking of fixing issues, quarterback Jayden Daniels called a players-only meeting with his receiving core to address how they can fix the issues in the passing attack. LSU’s quarterbacks and receivers had not met like this during the season before, but they knew the way they played against Auburn wasn’t sustainable. Daniels completed 8 of 20 passes for 80 yards, and the receivers struggled with multiple drops. Nabers said the quarterbacks and receivers reviewed the Auburn game together. Then they wrote down things they could have done better to move past the lackluster performance and try to improve before No. 25 LSU’s game this Saturday against No. 8 Tennessee, which perhaps conveniently has a pass defense ranked 128th in the country.

• Tennessee vs. LSU point spread: Tennessee -3
• Tennessee vs. LSU over-under total: 65 points
• Tennessee vs. LSU money line: Tennessee (-140), LSU (+118)