UT's Kyler Kerbyson, left, and Ethan Wolf celebrate with Justin Worley, center, after his touchdown carry against Arkansas State at Neyland Stadium.KNOXVILLE -- On one hand, Kyler Kerbyson and the rest of Tennessee's offensive line would have liked an immediate shot at redemption.
On the flipside, though, the Volunteers needed an extra week to get the five offensive linemen on which they'll depend the rest of the season more time together.
In Tennessee's last game, the Vols were allowing Oklahoma's defense to knock around quarterback Justin Worley to the tune of five sacks and struggling for nearly three quarters to get any semblance of a running game going.
It's an image Kerbyson and his teammates want to erase at No. 12 Georgia on Saturday.
"We didn't want to be seen as that kind of offensive line, where it's easy for anybody to get sacks on us," the left tackle said following Tuesday's practice. "We take more pride in that, and a lot of it had to do with people at new positions and being able to mesh together and communicating really well.
"A lot of the sacks we gave up, a lot of the hits on Worley we gave up, were miscommunication. A guy didn't know exactly where he needed to be, so we've really been working on that the past two weeks."
Tennessee started its third different line combination in the season's third game against Oklahoma, and coach Butch Jones said after the 34-10 loss that the five of Kerbyson at left tackle, Marcus Jackson at left guard, Mack Crowder at center and true freshmen Jashon Robertson and Coleman at right guard and tackle would continue to be the starting five.
After having just one week to jell before facing one of the nation's best defensive fronts, the Vols linemen have had two more weeks to improve their cohesion.
"It really is important to be able to spend time together, and these past weeks, being able to work at the same positions has really helped," Kerbyson said. "I've started to mesh more at left tackle. Getting good reps against quality guys with Curt [Maggitt] and [Derek] Barnett over there has really gotten me ready for whatever I have to face.
"Then Jashon and Coleman working together, they've got to be able to mesh really well, whether it's games from the defensive end or double teams and what they need to do on run-blocks. It really is important for the past two weeks of all working together."
Clinic time
Responding to a question about whether Worley should keep the football more in Tennessee's zone-read option offense, Jones offered a joke.
"What I'm going to do is I'm going to hold a free media clinic on the quarterback reads and pulls," he quipped.
Jones went on to explain that some plays that appear to be zone-read plays actually are not and instead are designed runs, and there are other times where the read to keep the football is not there for Worley when it appears otherwise to viewers.
"There has been a few occasions where he can [keep it]," Jones said. "We worked exceptionally hard in the work week to get that corrected and actually teaching him how to get down and get 4 or 5 yards for us. There's some things where we're not asking him to read it as well."
Thundering Hurd
Tennessee freshman Jalen Hurd, the other tailback in Saturday's matchup, said there is one way in which he and Georgia's Todd Gurley are similar.
"Well, we're both tall," the 6-foot-3 Hurd said of the 6-foot-1 Gurley, "so that's about it for now."
Gurley, the Bulldogs' Heisman Trophy candidate, is averaging a robust 9.8 yards per carry this season and has nearly 200 more yards than Hurd on seven fewer carries.
"I really can't compare us," Hurd said. "I haven't really played that much yet. I'm just trying to work my butt off and play my heart out against Georgia."
Tennessee's leading rusher said he's watched highlights of Gurley as part of a larger video study.
"We have little clips around all the SEC running backs every single week, and we watch all the good runs," Hurd said. "We try to pick bits and pieces of every running back and try to look at that and look what they're doing and see what we're not doing that they're doing or something that we're doing and they're doing. It's just to compare and contrast."
'Good homecoming'
Four of Tennessee's top six tacklers are Georgia natives, and three players who form the backbone of the Vols' defense -- linebacker A.J. Johnson (Gainesville), cornerback Cam Sutton (Jonesboro) and safety Brian Randolph (Marietta) -- are products of the Peach State.
"Georgia, they create a bunch of playmakers," Randolph said with a proud grin. "That's what I feel. It's a very talented state, and it's just a good homecoming for a lot of us."
Tennessee tidbits
Jones began his meeting with reporters with this statistic: On Tennessee's 70-man travel roster, only 11 players have played at Georgia's Sanford Stadium. ... Freshman Todd Kelly started at safety against Oklahoma, but junior LaDarrell McNeil replaced him following an early mistake and finished the game. "He knows when he makes the mistakes," Jones said of Kelly. "You'll see his playing time continue to increase, but we've been really pleased with the play of LaDarrell McNeil. He's really performing at a high level for us." ... Freshman tailback Derrell Scott (foot) and defensive tackle Trevarris Saulsberry (knee) returned to practice last week following long injury layoffs, and Jones said both would travel to Georgia. "They continue to improve."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.