Lingering questions still require answers
KNOXVILLE — By design, spring football games are typically equal parts snoozefest and springboard into offseason hype. Saturday’s annual Orange & White Game was no different, as a dull-aspaint-drying first quarter was followed by enough big plays from newcomers and reserves to ensure University of Tennessee fans’ preseason expectations will be anything but reserved.
But if this fall’s version of the Volunteers is to return to a double-digit win total and contend for one of college football’s coveted 12 playoff spots, there are at least two questions that went unanswered and two more that became obvious after Saturday’s 99 minutes of action at Neyland Stadium.
First, even with attendance capped at 10,000 due to ongoing work on $300,000 million worth of stadium upgrades, it wasn’t just fans who were noticeably absent. At least 13 players from the offensive and defensive two-deep rotations saw no action.
It was a list that included James Pearce — arguably UT’s best pass rusher since some guy from Howard High School named Reggie White was terrorizing opposing backfields in the early 1980s — and fellow defensive lineman Joshua Josephs, plus linebackers Arion Carter and Keenan Pili. Receivers Bru McCoy and Squirrel White, offensive linemen Andrej Karic, Jackson Lampley, Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins were missing, too, and neither of the team’s top two running backs stepped onto the field either.
Having those veterans along the defensive front seven making plays the way they’re capable of will certainly also affect the second lingering question: How quickly can a totally revamped secondary come together to eliminate (or at least significantly reduce) the big plays surrendered so often last year and even create a few of its own?
One big piece of that puzzle — and not just because he’s a Chattanooga-area product — looks to be Bradley Central’s Boo Carter, who rarely came off the field Saturday and was in on three tackles, including one in the backfield.
“We gave up a couple of big plays today, just out of position, but overall that group has length, athleticism and throughout the course of spring ball, I do think that room is the most athletic since we’ve been there,” Vols fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel said of the defensive backs. “All five spots, they’ve made plays, so we’ve just got to find that group that can go out and make plays at a championship level.”
As for takeaways that crystallized on the field, new offensive additions Chris Brazzell and Mike Matthews are going to give the receiver corps a boost of big-play potential that was missing last season. Both sent a jolt of excitement through the stadium by getting free for deep-ball touchdown catches and also carried themselves throughout the game with a swagger that, once McCoy returns, could prove why Heupel said earlier this spring, “it’s the deepest receiving room, talent-wise” during his time in Knoxville.
Secondly, heaven forbid for Big Orange Nation, if disaster struck and heralded quarterback Nico Iamaleava had to miss any significant playing time, backups Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger looked more than capable of running the offense.
Moore, now a fifth-year senior who followed Heupel from the University of Central Florida, was the most active among the quarterbacks, completing 12 of 18 attempts for two touchdowns, including a 63-yarder to a wide-open Matthews. Merklinger, a former four-star recruit who joined the Vols as a midyear enrollee, looked sharp on a 71-yard touchdown strike to Brazzell and was equally impressive with his legs, escaping the rush and outracing everyone on the way to a 26-yard score in the second quarter.
“I think our coaches give the whole QB room the keys to go out there and succeed,” said Iamaleava, who was 7-of-9 for 96 yards. “It’s more being prepared to go out and do your job better. Preparing the way we do in the QB room and coming to work every day has been our whole mindset.”
Iamaleava’s talent has never been in question, and the redshirt freshman’s development into the starter’s role, according to Heupel, seemingly is no longer in question either, which would be a massive step in the direction toward returning to contender status.
“I’ve been working on addressing the offense the way I need to and being more vocal with the guys,” said Iamaleava, who appeared in five games last season, with his first start in the Citrus Bowl. “I’m more of a quiet guy, so it’s different for me to get out of my shell, but that’s something I’ll continue to work on.
“Obviously I think I have more of a grasp of what we’re trying to do. I’m very pleased with the steps we’ve taken. A lot of young guys have taken snaps this spring and are doing a great job of getting better every day.”
How much improvement is made by the newcomers over the summer, how quickly those held out of spring because of injury can heal and return, and whether those lingering questions from Saturday get answered in the five months between now and when the Vols step back into Neyland for the Aug. 31 opener against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will determine what level of postseason expectation is realistic.