KNOXVILLE – Tennessee’s offensive-line rotation may be here to stay.
The Volunteers broke the mold from previous seasons and played six linemen in three different combinations last week against Virginia Tech, and head coach Butch Jones indicated earlier this week they likely would do the same against Ohio on Saturday.
Perhaps then the Vols’ best lineup will emerge ahead of the four-game gauntlet waiting around the corner.
“I anticipate us mixing some lineups around,” Jones said, “and trying to find the right mix.”
Even offensive coordinator Mike DeBord admitted he’s coming around to the idea of rotating during games, which Tennessee didn’t do the past three seasons unless there was an injury.
Now, though, the Vols have more than five offensive linemen proving they deserve a chance.
“I’m really changing my mind a little bit about five guys,” DeBord said, “because I think what happened was we moved a lot of guys around and guys played well. When it doesn’t take away from their play, it’s building depth.
“I’m going to go back to Georgia last year. We had two freshmen in there playing in the critical time of the game, and a lot of it was because those guys had some experience earlier in the season. We’ve got to keep moving guys around a little bit to move through this season, because you never know what’s going to happen.”
In both games this season Tennessee started, from left to right, Drew Richmond, Jashon Robertson, Coleman Thomas, Dylan Wiesman and Brett Kendrick, but in the second quarter against Virginia Tech the Vols took Thomas out, slid Wiesman to center and inserted Jack Jones at right guard.
Coach Jones said the move was “planned,” but the move the Vols made in the second half – taking Richmond out, flipping Kendrick over to left tackle, moving Thomas to right tackle, sliding Wiesman to center and playing Jack Jones at guard – likely was a reaction.
Richmond struggled in his second career start and often looked like a redshirt freshman learning on the fly.
“He really has (learned a lot),” DeBord said. “He got better week two from week one. He’s had a really good week of practice this week. Here’s a young guy that didn’t play last year, and he’s getting better. He continues to improve. I liked his practice (Tuesday) a lot.”
The sophomore Jones again made an impact when put into the lineup, much as he did last season when he came off the bench to help Tennessee beat Georgia and held his own in a start at Alabama. The coaches indicated he earned playing time through how he practiced, and his play last week surely proved he deserves to start or see his role expand.
“Jack has been extremely productive for us in practice,” Coach Jones said. “He doesn’t say two words. He just works, and he’s been blocking the No. 1 defensive line and doing a good job. We knew we wanted to change some things around for momentum, and he’s earned the right to do that.”
DeBord said he’d be open to expanding the rotation to seven players, but Tennessee may not find another one deserving to play until Chance Hall returns after undergoing knee surgery, which the Vols hope is next week.
“You’re getting teams doing that, so it’s like why not?” DeBord said. “As long as guys will play to that level that we expect, then why not? It keeps guys fresh and keeps them in the game and all that, and it builds the depth through the season.”
The offensive line was slightly improved from the opener to the Virginia Tech game, and Tennessee hopes to see similar progress against Ohio.
“I thought we took tremendous strides from game one to game two,” Coach Jones said, “from a communicative aspect, from a physicality standpoint, from the fundamentals and details versus a very good front and a very active front. We need to make that progress that we made from week one to week two now into week three. Everything is being on the upward trend.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.