Hooker shines, Dixon debuts in first Vols scrimmage
The first scrimmage is in the books.
Tuesday not only marked the eighth preseason football practice for Tennessee but also the inaugural scrimmage inside Neyland Stadium. The Volunteers are a little more than three weeks away from their Sept. 1 opener against visiting Ball State.
“I think it was really good for our young guys,” second-year coach Josh Heupel said afterward in a news conference, “and defensively, we were able to get some of that work against tempo. We got in some situational football, some third-andshort and some overtime work.
“Overall, I was pleased with the effort and strain and the competitive nature of it. There was some back and forth between both sides of the ball.”
Heupel didn’t detail many specific performances in the closed competition, other than to say that sixth-year senior quarterback Hendon Hooker was “efficient and effective” in moving the offense and that fifth-year senior linebacker Jeremy Banks had a nice interception.
Junior running back Jabari Small performed well, according to Heupel, and a trio of first-year Vols behind Small on the depth chart got a lot of work. With sophomore Jaylen Wright slowed by an injury and redshirt sophomore Len’Neth Whitehead out for the season, freshmen Dylan Sampson and Justin Williams-Thomas and Clemson transfer Lyn-J Dixon had plenty of chances to display their talents.
Dixon, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound fifth-year senior from Butler, Georgia, practiced with the Vols for the first time last Thursday.
“With Len’Neth being out for the season because of his injury, I felt like it was important to try to look for and add another
“Overall, I was pleased with the effort and strain and the competitive nature of it. There was some back and forth between both sides of the ball.”
— COACH JOSH HEUPEL
body in that room if there was one available that fit what we were going to need,” Heupel said of Dixon. “Since he’s gotten in, he has embraced understanding what we’re doing as fast as he possibly can. He has been able to flash in some of our situational stuff that we’ve done, but for him to go out and operate and function in everything that we’re doing right now — he’s probably not at that point.
“I’ve been really pleased with the effort he’s put into it. He’s competed in a really good way out there on the practice field and in the stadium, and I’m looking forward to his progression in the back half of training camp and as we push towards game week.”
Dixon amassed 1,420 yards and 13 touchdowns on 218 carries during his four seasons with Dabo Swinney’s Tigers that yielded three Atlantic Coast Conference titles. His best year occurred in 2019, when he rushed 104 times for 635 yards and six scores.
Before signing with Clemson, he had been committed to Tennessee, and Heupel said that familiarity helped.
“He has some experience playing at this level, and his skill set, athletic ability, change of direction and explosive speed are all things we need inside of our room,” he said. “For those reasons, we felt like he was right to bring in.”
“Since he’s gotten in, he has embraced understanding what we’re doing as fast as he possibly can.”
— TENNESSEE COACH JOSH HUEPEL
COMMENTING ABOUT LYN-J DIXON
Opposite Tillman
Heupel said that Jimmy Calloway and Jalin Hyatt did some good things at slot receiver, but what about the outside spot opposite returning 1,000-yard receiver Cedric Tillman?
“I feel like Ramel (Keyton) has done some positive things,” Heupel said. “Walker Merrill has been out there and made some plays and operated really efficiently. Bru (McCoy) has done some really good things in some of our practices. That’s a point of competition in the back half of training camp.
“We’ve got to have multiple guys step up and would like to have at least one of them step up and grab a hold of that position.”
Odds and ends
Heupel did not have an eligibility update for McCoy, the transfer from Southern California and former five-star signee. … Redshirt junior defensive back Kamal Hadden was held out of the scrimmage. … Heupel said two points of emphasis being stressed in scrimmages are short-yardage situations on offense and red-zone defense.