KNOXVILLE — By design, spring football games are typically equal parts snoozefest and springboard into offseason hype. Saturday’s annual Orange & White Game was no different, as a dull-as-paint-drying first quarter was followed by enough big plays from newcomers and reserves to ensure University of Tennessee fans’ preseason expectations will be anything but reserved.
But if this fall’s version of the Volunteers is to return to a double-digit win total and contend for one of college football’s coveted 12 playoff spots, there are at least two questions that went unanswered and two more that became obvious after Saturday’s 99 minutes of action at Neyland Stadium.
First, even with attendance capped at 10,000 due to ongoing work on $300,000 million worth of stadium upgrades, it wasn’t just fans who were noticeably absent. At least 13 players from the offensive and defensive two-deep rotations saw no action.
It was a list that included James Pearce — arguably UT’s best pass rusher since some guy from Howard High School named Reggie White was terrorizing opposing backfields in the early 1980s — and fellow defensive lineman Joshua Josephs, plus linebackers Arion Carter and Keenan Pili. Receivers Bru McCoy and Squirrel White, offensive linemen Andrej Karic, Jackson Lampley, Cooper Mays and Javontez Spraggins were missing, too, and neither of the team’s top two running backs stepped onto the field either.
Having those veterans along the defensive front seven making plays the way they’re capable of will certainly also affect the second lingering question: How quickly can a totally revamped secondary come together to eliminate (or at least significantly reduce) the big plays surrendered so often last year and even create a few of its own?