Vols Wrap Up Preseason Portion of Fall Camp
(utsports.com) KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The formal portion of preseason camp is complete for Tennessee football. After three weeks of practices, the Volunteers will now shift their attention to game planning with the start of classes next week.
Tennessee practiced in pads on Friday morning with kickoff less than two weeks away.
“Obviously, we’re on the backend on training camp here with another day to go, but I thought we got some really good work today,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “Special teams is starting to come together. We’ve gotten into more unit work. You can see a lot of young guys are going to have an opportunity to play a bunch of football.”
Depth Growing
There is no shortage of capable players on the defensive side this fall compared to last. With an influx of freshmen, particularly on the defensive line, and multiple transfer defensive backs, Tennessee will be strong in numbers. Freshmen defensive linemen include Joshua Josephs, James Pearce Jr. and Tyre West.
“Just in pure numbers, athletically, movement and skillsets, we’re much deeper—in particular on the defensive side of the football,” Heupel said. “It’s evident in some of the skill spots offensively, too. Those young guys that are a part of what I’m talking about still have to push and get themselves ready to go play on gameday. There are some things that we have to clean up—gameday management, those guys operating and some of those guys on special teams. I feel like we are a much deeper football team than we were a year ago.”
Dynamic Duo
Quarterback Hendon Hooker and wide receiver Cedric Tillman form one of the top duo’s in college football in 2022. The two connected for 10 touchdowns through the air a season ago and have made that a habit in practice. Both were ranked among the top 60 in ESPN’s 100 best players in college football this season. Tillman has displayed exceptional athleticism in camp with highlight-reel plays.
“Through the course of training camp, we’ve gotten here on the back half, we’ve been able to push the ball down the field and win more of those one-on-one situations,” Heupel said. “The consistency of throw and catch between those two has continued to get better. I feel like they both are playing at a really high level right now.”
On Deck
Tennessee will walk through on Monday before holding padded practices on Tuesday and Wednesday. Classes begin Wednesday on the UT campus. Both offensive coordinator Alex Golesh and defensive coordinator Tim Banks will meet with the media next week to give an update on the progress of camp. The Vols open the season on Thursday, Sept. 1, against Ball State in Neyland Stadium. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
