KNOXVILLE – A Tennessee defense already hurting for experience may start this football season without one of its most valuable players.
Volunteers coach Jeremy Pruitt told reporters Friday that senior linebacker Daniel Bituli had “a little procedure” that “cleaned his knee up a little bit” and could miss 10 to 17 days.
“We done it the early part of this week just to kind of alleviate some pain there,” Pruitt said.
Bituli, the team’s leading tackler the past two seasons, was noticeably absent from practice during the week.
It was unclear if the 6-foot-3, 252-pounder, who has 178 tackles in his Vols career, will be available for next Saturday’s opener against Georgia State at Neyland Stadium. If he can’t go, coaches could turn to junior Will Ignont and freshman Henry To’o To’o to fill the void, and junior Shanon Reid and redshirt freshman J.J. Peterson are other options.
In addition, sophomore Jeremy Banks – who played both running back and linebacker last season – has been practicing at linebacker in Bituli’s absence.
“The thing is, play your best players, right? In my opinion, Jeremy is one of our best players,” Pruitt said. “He is in the rotation at running back, so we could let him maybe share the load with three other guys or he could have a chance to play every snap on defense. So we’re going to let him play defense probably at least for the next couple of weeks for sure.”
Solomon update
Although Pruitt could not provide an update on the eligibility status of junior defensive line transfer Aubrey Solomon, he showed a little frustration with the process for the first time.
Solomon transferred from Michigan in December, and Tennessee appealed to the NCAA for a waiver to make him eligible immediately. The school has yet to hear whether the request has been granted or denied.
NCAA rules dictate that if a player transfers and has not graduated from college, he must sit out for one season unless such a waiver is granted.
“It’s interesting how this transfer portal stuff works,” Pruitt said. “I’m a guy that’s really been an advocate not necessarily that I want kids to leave if things get tough, not that, and when people elect to transfer that’s not always the case, right? Sometimes guys are looking for better opportunities, sometimes it’s just not a right fit and, hey, sometimes maybe they might have messed it up. Every scenario is probably a little bit different.
“But with this, you know, then it’s put on the NCAA to kind of to filter through all of it and figure out, OK, what’s the justification for this guy to be eligible as opposed to the other guy?”
Pruitt, entering his second season in Knoxville, noted that when players have left Tennessee, he has written letters to the NCAA to aid in making them eligible immediately at their new programs. Marquil Osborne, who had three interceptions for the Vols last season, transferred to Charlotte and was granted immediate eligibility.
“I don’t know if that has anything to do with it as far when they decide who’s going to be eligible and who’s not, but I definitely know that’s happened in the past for us for sure,” Pruitt said.
Hill transfer
Pruitt said former Maryland quarterback Kasim Hill – who started practicing with the Vols this week – contacted Tennessee about wanting to walk on.
As a transfer, Hill must sit out 2019 but is expected to have two years of eligibility remaining starting next season.
“We only have three guys on scholarship,” Pruitt said of the team’s quarterbacks. “He’s a guy that wanted to walk on and have an opportunity to compete and participate. It’s hard to find guys that want to do that who have started games in major college football.”
The 6-2, 234-pounder started 12 games during his injury-riddled career with the Terrapins. He tore his right ACL as a freshman and tore his left ACL as a sophomore after starting the first 10 games of the season.
He totaled 1,313 yards and 11 touchdowns through the air and also rushed for a touchdown at Maryland. He played in the 2017 season opener against Texas and completed all three of his passes for 41 yards and had a touchdown run. He tore his right ACL against Central Florida in the third game that year.
As a sophomore, his highlights included passing for 222 yards and a touchdown against Texas and passing for 265 yards and three scores against Illinois.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.