KNOXVILLE - The biggest April event for most high school seniors is probably the prom.
The biggest April date on Marquill Osborne's calendar is Tennessee's spring football game next weekend.
The freshman cornerback began his collegiate career early after enrolling in January, and he's been a pleasant surprise for the Volunteers during spring practice.
"I think it's giving me a huge edge," the four-star recruit said following Saturday's scrimmage in Neyland Stadium. "It's totally different from high school. All the people coming in are going to be in for a rude awakening."
The 5-foot-11, 183-pounder from the Charlotte, N.C., area hasn't been shy as he acclimates himself to college football. In a kickoff drill Saturday, he delivered a big hit on return man Malik Foreman and de-cleated his fellow defensive back.
Last Saturday he mixed it up after the whistle with offensive lineman Jack Jones, who's one of the last players with whom a freshman should mess.
Cornerback Cameron Sutton said Osborne is a "hungry" player who's willing to learn and take critique.
"He stays in his playbook, is always watching film and always asking questions," the senior added. "He's able to come out here and make plays and be successful.
"He's one of the first couple guys in the meeting room each and every time. I see him staying after practice or after lifting working his game and working his craft. Those are the type of guys you need in the program.
"The God-given ability that he has is going to help him be successful."
Osborne has worked at the nickel corner position exclusively all spring, and he's been a player first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop has pointed to as a surprise.
Shoop didn't know much about Osborne when he arrived, but the young defender is doing enough to get noticed.
"You can see him grow and mature a little bit," head coach Butch Jones said. "You can also see him fighting the mental fatigue, not just of classes, but I think it's the compilation of everything, but he's an individual of great character who works exceptionally hard. He's got a chance to be a very, very good football player.
"We've put him in some trying and tough situations," Jones added, "and he continues to answer the call."
Osborne is embracing the challenge of the nickel spot, which he said requires more knowledge of the game and the ability to be an effective blitzer.
He also believes his transition to college ball has gone smoother than expected, aside from one issue.
"It feels like playing three high school games in one practice," Osborne said with a laugh.
Said Jones: "For a high school senior he has very good strength. He's very, very active. He's very, very smart, athletic and explosive. He can play corner, he can play the nickel spot and he's going to be a great contributor on special teams. His special teams value is very high as well."
Scrimmage review
Jones was unhappy with the performance of the passing game during Saturday's 90-minute scrimmage and said the Vols need to "execute better" with that aspect of the offense.
"That'll be a point of emphasis," Jones said, "as we close out spring football next week."
The open-viewing part of practice included a brief 11-on-11 period during which receiver Cody Blanc dropped a short pass, quarterback Josh Dobbs misfired on a crossing route to Josh Smith and Smith made a nice grab on a rollout pass thrown slightly behind him by Dobbs.
Jones credited how Tennessee's defense "came to play" and generated a pass rush and intercepted two passes in scrimmage situations.
The culprit of the offense's issues, according to Jones, were dropped passes, breakdowns in pass protection and "flat-out losing" one-on-one matchups.
"It all goes hand in hand," he added, "of being an effective throw team."
Status updates
Tennessee held out wide receiver Jauan Jennings for precautionary reasons, but offensive tackle Austin Sanders (ankle) returned after leaving last weekend's scrimmage.
Cornerback Justin Martin continues to miss practice time as well, and there were a couple of other absences Saturday.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.