KNOXVILLE – Although the wide receivers probably have been Tennessee’s most consistent offensive position group this season, that doesn’t mean the group has been perfect.
And when mistakes are made, the players’ level of accountability allows them to talk about things that went wrong.
So after freshman quarterback Brian Maurer threw an interception in the end zone of last Saturday’s 20-10 win over Mississippi State, senior receiver Marquez Callaway was seen going over to junior Josh Palmer as the two were jogging off the field and having a discussion.
“I was already in the end zone (on the play), so from my point of view I just saw him (Bulldogs defensive back Brian Cole II) catch the ball and Palmer was behind him,” Callaway said Tuesday. “It could have been different, but when I seen it, I grabbed him and said, ‘At least try to knock it down. You can’t just jump up and not play defender. I just got in his butt about playing defense there. You’ve got to know the stakes: Take an offensive pass interference, but don’t let him catch the ball.”
At the time of the play, the Volunteers held a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, but in light of the early-season struggles, Callaway wanted to make sure the message got across that the team can’t give away plays.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) pulls in a 12-yard touchdown against Georgia defensive back J.R. Reed (20) at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 in Knoxville, Tenn.Callaway is the team’s second-leading receiver for the season, averaging just under 20 yards per catch on 13 grabs. Fellow senior Jauan Jennings leads the team with 412 yards on 29 catches with five scores, two more than Callaway.
The receivers group has taken on even more of a leadership role as the season has gone on, with those two and Tyler Byrd – the Vols’ leading receiver against Mississippi State – each in his final year. The players feel as though it’s important to have healthy discourse, as long as it helps the team.
“When you mess up, you have to be able to take coaching from anyone. It’s just part of the game,” Jennings said Tuesday. “Us being brothers and as close as we are, we don’t take anything personal, so we do a very good job of letting each other know what we need to work on.”
That leadership and accountability have been even more important as freshmen Ramel Keyton and Jerrod Means have entered the rotation. For Saturday’s game, head coach Jeremy Pruitt moved receivers coach Tee Martin from the coaches’ box down onto the field to help with the rotations as he felt that Callaway, Jennings and Palmer were playing “too many snaps.”
Tennessee wide receiver Tyler Byrd (10) runs for a touchdown as he’s hit by Mississippi State cornerback Martin Emerson (1) in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)Keyton had a 41-yard catch in the third quarter, leading to a field goal to put the Vols up 13-3, and both freshmen were on the field making blocks that sprang Byrd for the game-clinching 39-yard catch-and-run in the fourth quarter.
“When you start getting in the 65-plus range, that’s a lot, especially because we are kind of working on about 67 scholarships right now and these guys are also playing special teams, too,” Pruitt said Monday. “So we had guys that we felt like could play winning football, but you kind of have to have a feel of when to put them in the game, and it’s a lot easier for Tee to be right there to grab them and put them in as opposed to telling somebody from up top.
“It’s just tough to communicate that based off working from one line on the offensive side from the play-caller or giving the plays to signal in. You don’t want somebody piping in, ‘Hey, put this guy in the game, put that guy in the game,’ so you kind of got to have a feel. We just felt like it was better for us to get Tee on the field so he could do that.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.