Here are the Vols' national rankings in all major statistical categories after five games. Green means Top 30, red means Bottom 30, and yellow is the big, fat middle. Note the caveats before proceeding. First up is the Stuff UT is Doing Well.

What Tennessee is doing well

Tennessee is tied with Virginia Tech for 1st in the nation in Passes Intercepted. Turnovers Gained is Top 5 as well, as are Fewest Penalty Yards Per Game and Tackles for Loss Allowed. Pass Sacks Allowed is Top 20, and Red Zone Defense, Fumbles Recovered, and Kickoff Returns all stay in the Top 30 this week.

Nothing new crept into the Top 30, but one category -- Turnover Margin -- fell out to #41 from #29.

So what's it all mean? Team 117's defense can go get turnovers, whether they're fumbles or interceptions. The team is well-disciplined overall, the offensive line does not allow opposing defenses to do much damage behind them, and the defense is fairly stout in the red zone.

Where Tennessee needs major imporovement

4th Down Conversion Pct Defense and Net Punting both crawled out of the cellar this week, but First Downs Defense fell in. This chart screams one thing, and that is that the passing game smells like rotten poultry. Passing Offense, Passes Had Intercepted, Turnovers Lost, Passing Yards per Completion, and Team Passing Efficiency are among the worst in the nation, and it's really weighing down what is actually becoming a very good rushing game (34th in the nation). Don't eat that stuff.

THE BIG FAT MIDDLE

And here's the rest, for tracking purposes.

Conclusions

The offense needs to focus on its strength -- the rushing game -- and get everything it can from it. It needs to either improve or avoid passing, and the choice between those two alternatives is currently vexing the coaches during games.

The defense needs to get better on first down, which should in turn improve its poor 3rd down conversion numbers. It's good in the red zone and in generating turnovers, so it appears that it can play in smaller spaces. If they can figure out how to defend the rest of the field, they could be fine. Georgia's definitely going to test them this week.

Players in the Top 30

Well, hello there, Rajion Neal, who now ranks in the Top 30 in both Rushing Yards and Rushing TDs. Brian Randolph and Michael Palardy remaind the most consistent contributors to the team.