PFF grades: Tennessee in Oklahoma

Let's see how the Vols did.

Elite Class = 90-100, All-Conference = 85-89, Starter = 70-84, Backup = 60-69, Replaceable = 60 >

Offensive grades (at least 14 games – 20% offensive games)

WR Dont'e Thornton – 91.3 (27 games)

RB Dylan Sampson – 72.9 (49 games)

TE Holden Staes – 68.7 (46 games)

WR Bru McCoy – 66.0 (63 games)

LT Larry Johnson III – 65.3 (41 games)

RB DeSean Bishop – 65.2 (24 games)

QB Nico Iamaleava – 63.4 (75 games)

C Cooper Mays – 62.3 (75 games)

TE Miles Kitselman – 59.6 (58 games)

LG Andrej Karic — 57.2 (75 games)

WR Squirrel White – 65.4 (42 games)

WR Chris Brazzell – 54.0 (29 games)

TE Ethan Davis – 52.2 (14 games)

OT John Campbell – 51.5 (34 games)

RG Javontez Spraggins – 47.6 (75 games)

OT Dayne Davis – 47.6 (75 games)

Dont'e Thornton received by far the highest grade of any Tennessee offensive player, and that was no big surprise since he was one of only two receivers, along with Bru McCoy, who could create explosive plays. Thornton had another 50-yard catch that was called back for holding.

While it wasn't a statistically stellar game for Dylan Sampson (24 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown), his PFF grade shows how well he ran against Oklahoma's stout defense on a night when Tennessee didn't create many gaps.

It was no surprise that most of Tennessee's offensive linemen received poor grades, but there were still some interesting notes. Larry Johnson had a much better grade than John Campbell, who he replaced in the second quarter. And while I wasn't surprised that Tennessee's offensive tackles struggled, I was surprised that Javontez Spraggins struggled.

More from RTI: Josh Heupel explains Tennessee's conservative offensive game against Oklahoma

Defensive Grades (at least 13 games – 20% of defensive games)

LEO Josh Josephs – 94.3 (30 games)

DT Elijah Simmons – 82.0 (25 games)

CB Jermod McCoy – 80.8 (72 games)

DT Omarr Norman-Lott – 75.7 (21 games)

LB Keenan Pili – 73.8 (56 games)

S Will Brooks — 73.4 (54 games)

LEO James Pearce Jr. – 73.2 (54 games)

S Christian Charles — 73.2 (21 games)

DT Jaxson Moi – 70.5 (15 games)

DT Bryson Eason – 70.4 (36 games)

DT Omari Thomas – 69.8 (26 games)

S Jakobe Thomas — 69.7 (19 games)

CB Rickey Gibson – 68.1 (68 games)

DE Tyre West – 67.9 (20 games)

DE Dominic Bailey – 63.5 (48 games)

S André Turrentine – 60.3 (59 games)

LB Arion Carter – 59.9 (59 games)

STAR Christian Harrison — 57.4 (56 games)

LB Jeremiah Telander – 55.4 (13 games)

Let's start by looking at snap counts. I was curious to see what the rotation would look like in Tennessee's first true test of the season. The Vols had 10 players on the defensive line, with Daevin Hobbs not quite fitting the bill with his 11 snaps. Tennessee didn't rotate much at linebacker, with Pili and Carter playing the vast majority of reps. The Vols rotated very little at cornerback, but did play a lot of snaps with four different players at safeties.

And what about the defensive line? Seven of the top 11 defensive players were defensive players. Josh Josephs was absolutely fantastic and what about Elijah Simmons' plays?! Speaking of which, Jayson Jenkins only played five plays but made the tackle for the safety.

A note on Arion Carter: His pass coverage really dragged his grade down. He received a tackling grade of 81.5 and a pass rush grade of 91.8.