Auburn football: Rematch with Tennessee gives the Tigers a perfect chance for revenge

Like on the defensive line, the Vols lost a key defender from last season at linebacker. Daniel Bituli was a second-team All-SEC selection last year but is now in the NFL.

However, the team still has sophomore Henry To’o To’o who led the team with 75 tackles as a true freshman and is a big all-conference candidate for 2020.

Behind To’o To’o will likely be another sophomore in Quavaris Couch, who also played well as a freshman in 2019 (28 total tackles) and will certainly see his fair share of snaps even if he isn’t the starter.

At outside linebacker, the Vols have senior Deandre Johnson who can transition to the D-line in nickel packages and RS junior Kivon Bennett who also has a chance to start when the Vols run a 3-4 defense.

Johnson only had 13 total tackles last season but also had 4.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks as he started all 13 games. For Bennett, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker recorded 27 tackles with six TFLs as he experienced a breakout season in 2019.

The Vols ranked in the bottom half of the conference in run defense last year so that could be an area where Auburn could take advantage.