KNOXVILLE – If there’s one primary hope for the Tennessee defensive line entering the season, it’s that the talent, versatility and depth of that position group ultimately will be able to outshine the lack of experience.
The Volunteers enter Saturday’s season opener against Georgia State with 10 players battling for three starting spots on the line, although head coach Jeremy Pruitt said during his Monday news conference that he expects a lot of those guys to play.
“Those guys have really worked hard and improved from where they were at in spring ball to where they’re at today,” Pruitt said. “It’s really been positive, and they’ve got to continue to do that every single week. We have, really, an inexperienced football team when you look at the two-deep or three-deep, so we’re going to continue to improve this season, and we’ve got to focus on that every day. We can’t take a day off.
“We’ve got to work hard to improve, and we’ve got to be much better in week two than we were in week one, and each continuous week of the season. So our defensive line, along with the rest of our team, has got to work hard to do that.”
After the loss of senior Emmit Gooden to a torn ACL earlier this preseason, Matthew Butler became the most experienced player on the line, having totaled 13 tackles in nine games in 2018. He has 17 college games under his belt. The other eight names mentioned on Monday’s depth chart – not counting Michigan transfer Aubrey Solomon, who has yet to receive a ruling from the NCAA regarding a waiver that would make him eligible immediately – have a combined 13 games of experience at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.