Throughout spring practice and preseason camp, Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel and his assistants repeatedly discussed how deep the 2024 roster would be compared to its predecessors.
That became evident for everyone to see during last weekend’s 25-15 victory at Oklahoma.
With 9 minutes and 12 seconds remaining before halftime, redshirt sophomore defensive end Jayson Jenkins stuffed Sooners running back Javontae Barnes for a safety and a 12-3 lead. Jenkins played in just seven games his first two seasons with the Volunteers and tied for 30th on last year’s team with four tackles.
“You just wait for your opportunity,” the 6-foot-6, 281-pound Jenkins said this past Wednesday in a news conference. “These last two years, I’ve leaned on my faith and my family and my brothers around me. I just believed that my time would come, and that when my time came, I would execute.
“When you’re on the sideline, you’re taking those mental reps and observing what the opposing team is doing. That’s how we all stay ready.”
It was the same storyline for fellow redshirt sophomore Larry Johnson III, an offensive tackle in his second season in Knoxville after transferring from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College. The 6-7, 350-pounder played in only four games for last year’s Vols, with his season high of nine snaps transpiring in January’s Citrus Bowl skunking of Iowa.
Johnson replaced an injured John Campbell Jr. at right tackle during the second quarter at Oklahoma and was part of an adjusted line that helped Dylan Sampson rush eight consecutive times for 46 yards and a 1-yard touchdown with 1:40 left in the half to make it 19-3.
“Larry has a big, massive frame and has the ability to bend,” Heupel said. “We knew he had to work on his body, and he’s done an unbelievable job with his strength and on the nutrition side of it. He’s just continued to climb since he’s been here, and I’m proud of how he’s invested and worked.”
As the Vols enjoy their open date with a 4-0 record and a No. 5 ranking in the Associated Press poll before traveling to Arkansas next Saturday night, Heupel is displaying his pride far and wide.
In Huepel’s fourth season, Tennessee has proven to be much more than Sampson, quarterback Nico Iamaleava, receiver Bru McCoy and center Cooper Mays on offense, and it’s not just about tackle Omari Thomas and edge rusher James Pearce Jr. on defense. The depth of the Vols has been showcased at running back, where redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop has rushed for 287 yards and 7.6 yards per carry in relief of Sampson, and defensively at the “star” position, where junior Christian Harrison and freshman Boo Carter already have produced.
The wealth in numbers is especially noticeable on the defensive front, as Jenkins showed against the Sooners.
“He’s done an unbelievable job of continuing to invest every single day,” Heupel said. “When you invest, it may not always be on your time, but you are going to cash it in at some point and make a huge play in a football game. Last week, he played extremely well when he was out there.
“We have great confidence in him.”
And the more players Heupel considers invested, the better his Vols expect to be.
“It has definitely been a culmination of all the hard work I put in over the offseason,” Jenkins said. “Just seeing that come in during the game, an important game against Oklahoma, and seeing that show up was a very good moment. To celebrate that with my brothers was even better for me.
“With the brotherhood that we have here, everybody is happy to see everybody shine.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.