For all the intrigue and speculation regarding who will emerge in Tennessee’s four-man quarterback competition, there is another fairly significant question that could determine whether head coach Josh Heupel’s offense is a success during his first season in Knoxville.
Can the Volunteers develop a formidable rushing attack?
“We’re going to have to run the football. It’s the SEC,” sophomore running back Jabari Small said this past week. “We’re going to play fast, and we’re going to run the football a lot – a lot of vertical running, so it will give me a chance to get downhill and show my skill set.”
Small is Tennessee’s top returning rusher – he carried just 26 times for 117 yards last season – after the NCAA transfer portal exits earlier this year of Eric Gray to Oklahoma and Ty Chandler to North Carolina. Redshirt freshman Dee Beckwith is the only other returning back possessing totals from a year ago, having carried three times for 25 yards in three games.
Tee Hodge, Antonio Malone, Fred Orr, Marcus Pierce and Len’Neth Whitehead are returning rushers who went without a carry last season, while Tiyon Evans and Jaylen Wright are the newcomers.