KNOXVILLE – Usually players returning to action get most of their repetitions daily in practice as they work their way back from what’s been ailing them.
In Trey Smith’s case, the Tennessee offensive lineman has been knocking the rust off 10 months with no contact in game action.
But the improvement is there.
“Trey’s playing really hard,” Volunteers coach Jeremy Pruitt said last week. “We’ve altered practice a little bit to help his development – being really light on Mondays and Thursdays, and then on Tuesdays and Wednesdays he does not participate. Just like anybody that’s not getting to practice, he makes some mistakes out there, but the guy is playing hard and continues to improve each week.”
It was a long, tumultuous road back for Smith after twice being diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs. The first instance came in the spring of 2018, with the recurrence in October of last year. He wanted to come back, and doctors from across the country linked up with the university’s to formulate a plan for Smith to be able to play. There isn’t much in the way of contact, but he has been able to start three games and has performed well in that time.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Tennessee offensive lineman Trey Smith (73) jogs off the field before a field goal attempt during the second overtime in a NCAA football game against BYU at Neyland Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019 in Knoxville, Tenn.Saturday, he downplayed his road back (“I’m just coming out there, just getting my groove back”), instead focusing on his improvements in the Vols’ offensive system.
“Like I said in one of my earlier interviews, having that relationship with Brandon Kennedy and guys around me, Wanya Morris and Marcus Tatum, that helps me with being comfortable in the game and being successful,” he said.
“I’m just working my tail off every day and believing in God, first and foremost.”
The Vols didn’t have much success rushing the ball in Saturday’s 34-3 loss to Florida, as it was the first time all season they didn’t rush for 100 yards (not counting lost yardage from sacks). The offensive line has helped the team run for 4.3 yards per game, a number that creeps up to nearly 5 yards per carry minus those nine sacks.
The Vols had 88 yards rushing against the Gators, with 73 coming in the second half and 27 on their final drive. The offensive line has improved substantially from last season, but Pruitt has spoken often about controlling the line of scrimmage.
“We played pretty good,” Smith said. “There are a lot of things we need to fix; we’ve got a lot of things we need to clean up. At the end of the day no one’s perfect, but at the end of the day we’ve got to execute. A lot of times, I put it on myself a lot, I feel like I didn’t execute enough. As long as we’re on the same page, we’re going to regroup and watch film together, and we’re going to grind it out together. At the end of the day we’re going to go back to work.”
Smith added that part of the problem for the offense, which has struggled at key points in the three losses, is that the Vols are “holding ourselves back.” They have nearly two weeks to figure some things out before they host third-ranked Georgia on Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.
“It’s not necessarily what other teams are doing,” Smith said. “At the end of the day we’ve got to execute a lot better. I put a lot on myself today, not executing and not finishing some things I need to finish, but a lot of times we’ve just got to execute better. Overall, we just go back to the drawing board every week.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.