KNOXVILLE – Earlier this week, Tennessee freshman Eric Gray referred to himself and junior Ty Chandler as “Thunder and Lightning” in terms of how the two running backs have meshed so far in the Volunteers’ offense.
“It feels great to be out there,” Gray noted. “Ty’s a great mentor. He’s helped me day to day on different things. He’s helped me improve on pass protection and different things like that, so I think it’s going well.”
It’s possible that Saturday against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (1-1), the Vols (0-2) could add Tim Jordan to the mix. The junior running back is practicing again after getting injured against Georgia State. Jordan, who was second on the team with 522 rushing yards in 2018, was limited to 18 yards on seven carries in the season opener.
So instead of “Thunder and Lightning,” the Vols could feature something more along the lines of “Earth, Wind and Fire.”
It is September, after all.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee running back Ty Chandler evades BYU defensive back Austin Lee during last Saturday’s game at Neyland Stadium.The Vols rushed for 242 yards in last Saturday night’s 29-26 double-overtime loss to BYU, the second-most in 14 games under coach Jeremy Pruitt. Chandler had 154 yards on 26 carries, while Gray added 77 on 17.
“It was probably the best that we’ve been able to run the football against a quality opponent in some time,” Pruitt said this week. “There were lots of plays that were out there where I really felt like our running backs did a really good job making guys miss and finishing runs off.”
Some of the sizable yardage can be attributed to “chunk” plays. Chandler had runs of 53 and 27 yards, while Gray had carries gaining 13 and 11. But even with that, there were just a couple of negative carries and the offensive line was able to stay intact, giving those in the program reason for optimism.
But there’s also room for improvement. For the second straight game, the Vols were stopped on fourth-and-short, twice deep in Cougars territory. So while last Saturday’s performance was a step in the right direction, offensive lineman Marcus Tatum wasn’t pleased.
“When we’re running the ball, we’re not really thinking of the yardage or anything like that,” Tatum said after the game. “We’re really just trying to control the ball, control the game and control the clock. So I feel like we did it in certain moments of the game, and sometimes when we really needed it, we just didn’t get it done.
“In the critical moments when we needed it, we didn’t get it done, so I don’t feel like we did as well as we needed to.”
In addition to Jordan, senior Carlin Fils-aime has been working his way back from a preseason injury and could be getting on the field in the next couple of weeks. His addition would give the Vols yet another piece in the backfield, with 309 career rushing yards and five scores.
“He needs to get banged on a little bit,” Pruitt said Wednesday. “A running back that hasn’t carried the ball in a while is a dangerous deal there for us in terms of putting it on the ground, so he needs to get knocked around some with the ball in his hand. Tim (Jordan) has practiced the last three days and has improved every single day, so I would expect him to be ready to go by Saturday.”
Fils-aime’s return would give the Vols four quality options in the backfield. Perhaps like Boyz II Men.
Until then, Earth, Wind and Fire will have to be enough.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.