KNOXVILLE – Marsalis Teague didn’t move from wide receiver to cornerback to sit on the University of Tennessee’s bench.
And he didn’t have to sit for long.
Teague, a 5-foot-10 sophomore from Paris, Tenn., started alongside junior Art Evans in UT’s Saturday night game against seventh-ranked Oregon.
First-year Volunteers coach Derek Dooley has had Teague bracketed with redshirt freshman Eric Gordon atop the depth chart after preseason camp, and he said whichever player didn’t start would be the fifth defensive back – and he considers five of them starters.
Gordon started in last week’s season opener against UT-Martin, and Teague, as expected, was the Vols’ fifth defensive back.
Palardy punch
Highly touted freshman kicker Michael Palardy made his debut Saturday night as the Vols’ kickoff specialist.
UT coaches weren’t pleased with senior punter Chad Cunningham’s placement on kickoffs in the season opener, but Palardy didn’t debut with a dandy. Kenjon Barner fielded the kick at the 5-yard line and returned it near midfield, but senior cornerback Art Evans forced a fumble that sophomore safety Prentiss Waggner recovered.
The Vols kicked a field goal moments later, giving them a 6-0 lead with 8:53 left in the first quarter – before Oregon ran an offensive play.
Cunningham handled UT’s kickoff immediately following the 70-minute weather delay. His kick landed at the 3, and Barner returned it to the 37.
Miller time
Vols freshman defensive end Corey Miller started in place of senior Gerald Williams – another versatile player – at defensive tackle.
UT, which isn’t blessed with much quality defensive tackle depth, occasionally moves the 6-foot-3, 255-pound Miller and 6-3, 250-pound Williams inside.
Dickey day
Former UT head coach and athletic director Doug Dickey and son Daryl – a former Vols quarterback – were honored as legends of the game.
Dickey coached the Vols from 1964 to ’69 and returned to Knoxville as athletic director from 1985 to 2002. He also coached at Florida, his alma mater, from 1970 to ’78.
Daryl started at quarterback for the 1985 “Sugar Vols,” who went 9-1-2 and shocked Miami in the Sugar Bowl. After short stints in the NFL and USFL, he bounced around as an assistant coach at Kentucky, Georgia Southern and Florida State.
This and that
As expected, Gordon started the game as UT’s top punt return specialist. Senior wide receiver Gerald Jones had that spot until breaking a bone in his hand in last week’s win. Gordon returned his first punt for 0 yards and fair-caught the second.
UT freshman wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers, a former Calhoun (Ga.) High School star, got into the act early. He took a reverse handoff to open the second possession and ran 21 yards to the Oregon 22. Jones’ injury expanded Rogers’ role in the Vols’ plans.
Three seniors – fullback Kevin Cooper from Chattanooga, strongside linebacker LaMarcus Thompson and kicker Daniel Lincoln – were UT’s game captains.
Oregon, which has more uniform combinations than any program in the country, wore white pants Saturday night. The Ducks were 1-3 in white pants last season.
UT basketball player Renaldo Woolridge, a junior forward, jokingly tweeted during the weather delay that he was going to join the several students who stormed the field. “I’d pull out some of my T Poole jukes,” Woolridge said in reference to Vols starting tailback Tauren Poole. “My stiff arm game is on point. I wouldn’t be able to cut in the rain, but I’d find the opening and takeoff!”
Contact Wes Rucker at wrucker@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/wesrucker and www.facebook.com/tfpvolsbeat.