KNOXVILLE — On the excitement meter, Saturday’s capper to spring practice — better known as the annual Orange & White game, although nothing much resembled an actual game — would rank somewhere between an afternoon nap on the couch and catching up on a weekend honey-do list.
Meaningful takeaways from the snooze-fest (which ended appropriately enough in a 10-10 deadlock) were hard to come by as the University of Tennessee’s scrimmage leaned more toward humdrum than highlight. But compared to the circus atmosphere surrounding last year’s event, boring is not a bad thing.
Not one bit.
Boring means you’re not ending spring by beginning a frantic search for a new quarterback because your established starter, who had participated in every practice rep to that point, opted to quit the team on the day of the game.
When Nico Iamaleava hijacked last year’s spring game, as well as the offseason storyline and preseason expectations, it was the first of a pair of notable headaches that created more drama than camaraderie and set a bad tone leading up to what ultimately became a disappointing 8-5 season.
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The UT coaching staff as well as Vol Nation will certainly welcome a boring summer. After all, boring would also mean a budding star in the secondary doesn’t decide to just stop showing up for team workouts, then pout his way through much of the season until eventually becoming enough of an issue that Boo Carter was booted from the team.
With all of that in perspective, an old-fashioned quarterback battle between two untested but talented candidates is not the worst offseason predicament a team could face.
Maybe the biggest positive as spring practice came to a close is that new coordinator Jim Knowles’ defense is sprinkled with enough skilled transfers, along with a linebacker group deep in playmakers, to expect vast improvement from last season.
Since day one of spring practice, by all accounts, the defense performed ahead of its counterparts. As practice number 15 came to an end on Saturday, it remained that way.
The offensive line has more experience than any other position group, plus a proven power runner to make plays behind them in DeSean Bishop. So the spotlight will shine down on the position that was the biggest question both entering and exiting spring practice.
Both George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon showed flashes of the arm strength and potential that made them highly coveted high school prospects, but both also held onto the ball far too long Saturday to escape the rush of any Southeastern Conference defense. And neither connected on a throw of more than 15 yards, with nearly all of their completions covering fewer than 10 yards.
So from today until the season opener on Labor Day weekend, what will certainly set the tone for the season will be whether either quarterback can progress to the point of taking command of not only the starter’s role but effectively running Josh Heupel’s downfield passing schemes.
Saturday’s lack of excitement does not necessarily have to equal cause for overly pessimistic expectations these next four months. The amount of progress that comes from the work put in during the dull summer months — out of view of fans and media — by either MacIntyre or Brandon (or both) will determine the fate of the fall.
“The biggest difference in today and another scrimmage or practice is people in the stands and how that feels,” Heupel said. “Handling a negative play and responding to the next play, all the things that you see in practice as well but it’s different when there’s eyes on you and media out there.
“I thought in general they (both quarterbacks) handled it really well today. They went and played the next play. There are some things we have to correct, but you want to see them control what you’re doing offensively. I thought they handled themselves well, but there’s a lot left out there for us to grow into.”
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com.