Tennessee’s ground game has been rolling all season, and the numbers say the Vols’ tackles are a huge reason why.
Through eight games of the 2026 regular season, Tennessee has built one of the country’s best rushing attacks behind DeSean Bishop, with Javin Gordon and Daune Morris also rotating in to keep the pressure on defenses. But the real edge, quite literally, has come from the outside. Tennessee’s offensive tackle duo is sitting near the top of the Power Four in run blocking, according to PFN.
Right tackle Jesse Perry owns the No. 1 run-blocking grade among all Power Four offensive tackles at 95.0. Left tackle David Sanders Jr. isn’t far behind at 92.4, which puts him third overall.
The full top end of the list shows just how well Tennessee is stacking up nationally:
Jesse Perry, Tennessee: 95.0
Guerby Lambert, Notre Dame: 92.7
David Sanders Jr., Tennessee: 92.4
Monroe Mills, Virginia: 89.2
Jacob Ponton, Texas Tech: 88.0
Elijah Paige, USC: 87.0
Nathan Knapik, Illinois: 86.8
Moshood Giwa, Rutgers: 86.8
Earnest Greene III, Georgia: 86.5
Kevin Heywood, Wisconsin: 84.5
Justin Tauanuu, USC: 84.2
Carter Smith, Indiana: 83.9
McKale Boley, Virginia: 83.8
Aidan Lynch, Virginia Tech: 83.5
Alvin Ebosele, Houston: 83.4
Bishop has taken full advantage of that blocking. He’s sitting at 957 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 171 carries, just 43 yards shy of 1,000 with four regular-season games left. If he gets there again, he’ll become only the second Tennessee player ever to reach 1,000 rushing yards twice, joining Johnnie Jones, who did it in 1983 with 1,116 yards and again in 1984 with 1,290.
Tennessee enters its matchup with Kentucky at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, and the stakes are clear. Josh Heupel said the Vols need to keep their focus on the moment as they try to finish strong.
“They remember what you do in November,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “We’re going to need to go finish in a great way.
Everything’s out in front of us, but we have to be in the present one week at a time. But you’ve got to win when you’re in the building that day.”
Kickoff against the Wildcats is set for 6:15 p.m. ET on ESPN from Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
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Anderson is ranked 12th nationally by Rivals, which gives Tennessee a real chance to add another elite piece to its pipeline if it can finish the job. The Vols last landed a five-star recruit two years ago in Nate Ament, and he has since been drafted into the NBA, a reminder of how much value a top-tier prospect can bring to the program if this pursuit breaks Tennessees way. [Read more 🡒]