Tennessee football's big question: Can it stop the run?

Run defense is at the heart of SEC football. Even in a pass-happy era, almost every SEC coach will put “stopping the run” at the top of his priority list.

Those same coaches are as adamant about being able to mount a running game as they are about stopping one. Expect them to make those points during SEC Football Media Days next month in Hoover, Ala.

The message might be old, but it’s still valid. Tennessee’s 2018 season reflected that.

On UT’s best Saturday of the 2018 season, it rushed for 215 yards and squeezed the life out of Kentucky’s ground game in a 24-7 upset of the 12th-ranked Wildcats at Neyland Stadium.

The Tennessee defensive front that treated Kentucky’s running backs so rudely is gone. That’s why UT’s defensive linemen should command so much attention in preseason training camp.

The line will be all new. That’s not all bad if you remember games other than the Kentucky one.

Georgia averaged 5 yards per carry in rushing for 251 yards against Tennessee; Missouri rushed for 227; Alabama 218. Those games helped drop Tennessee to ninth in the conference against the run.

However, not everyone was knocking UT’s defensive line into the secondary on a regular basis. Tennessee ranked 52nd nationally in rush defense. That's not so bad for a last-place program in the SEC East – especially when contrasted with how the Vols were falling short of competence in other areas.

Nonetheless, UT fans might not be grieving the departure of defensive linemen recruited by former coach Butch Jones. Never mind how highly those players were ranked by recruiting services. They didn’t play up to the rankings.

There’s reason to be optimistic about coach Jeremy Pruitt’s defensive line signees, regardless of how recruiting services regarded them. Pruitt knows what SEC championship defensive linemen look like. He coached them at Alabama and Georgia.

Senior Emmit Gooden, UT’s most productive returnee, will head up the defensive line. There’s more potential than production elsewhere. Junior-college transfers Savion Williams and Darel Middleton will be counted on to help immediately.

The greatest challenge for UT’s inexperienced defensive front should come against Georgia, whose offensive line is loaded with four- and five-star recruits. The Bulldogs have eight offensive linemen who probably would start for most teams in the SEC. Given their quality of players and depth, they might have the best offensive line in the country.

Alabama’s offensive line is always solid. Missouri’s offensive line should be second only to Georgia in the East. Mississippi State will return three starters from what was a physical offensive line. South Carolina’s offensive line should be improved, and Kentucky’s will include three proven starters.

The SEC East isn’t short on proven running backs, either. Florida’s Lamical Perine, Georgia’s D’Andre Swift, Missouri’s Larry Rountree and Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn are likely 1,000-yard rushers if they stay healthy.

BYU, Tennessee’s second opponent, doesn’t have running backs of that caliber. But an offensive line that returns four starters could be the strength of the team.

So you might not have to wait for SEC play to get a read on Tennessee’s defensive line.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.