Adversity has arrived early for the Tennessee Volunteers in their defensive backfield.
The stout returning tandem of junior cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III will not be together for quite some time, with McCoy having missed Saturday’s 45-26 opening triumph over Syracuse in Atlanta due to his torn anterior cruciate ligament in January and Gibson suffering a first-half arm injury against the Orange.
“Rickey will be out for an extended period here,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Monday afternoon during his weekly news conference. “How long? I don’t have the exact timeline, but he will be out for an extended time.”
The Vols will play their Neyland Stadium opener Saturday afternoon (3:30 on the SEC Network+ streaming service) when they face East Tennessee State. Tennessee’s third game is Sept. 13 against visiting Georgia.
Not having Gibson and McCoy would be viewed as a nightmare right now were it not for the play of redshirt sophomore Colton Hood and freshman Ty Redmond in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The two Atlanta-area players — Hood is from McDonough and Redmond from Alpharetta — combined for eight tackles and five pass breakups.
Hood also had a 22-yard fumble return for a touchdown and played all 84 defensive snaps. The transfer from Colorado was recognized Monday afternoon as the Southeastern Conference’s defensive player of the week.
“Colton has performed at a really high level from day one of getting here,” Heupel said. “He’s smart and has position flexibility, because he learned multiple spots when he first got here. He’s super consistent in his competitive makeup every day in the meeting room and on the practice field, and he has just continued to grow at a really high level.
“He’s a great teammate and a great player, and nobody in our building is surprised that he played extremely well Saturday. We continue to expect big things from him.”
Redmond, a three-star prospect in Tennessee’s 2025 signing class, played 60 snaps in his debut.
“We were not surprised, because that’s how he’s performed throughout the course of training camp after showing a lot of growth in spring, too,” Heupel said. “He’s a smart football player who has great length and the ability to bend. His fundamentals and technique have continued to grow.
“He’s just a guy who is very smart in understanding the scope of what we’re doing and what offenses are doing as well.”
Vols fifth-year senior tight end and team leader Miles Kitselman believes the performances of Hood and Redmond were a good sign.
“I think it’s the eight months of the offseason and coming together as a team,” Kitselman said Monday. “There are bonding moments off the field and knowing that everything is going to be all right. All we’ve got is all we need.”
ETSU, which is under the guidance of former Boyd Buchanan quarterback and UTC assistant coach Will Healy, opened Saturday with a 45-17 thumping of Murray State. The Bucs employ two transfer quarterbacks who are at their third school — Cade McNamara (Michigan and Iowa) and Jacolby Criswell (Arkansas and North Carolina).
Aguilar assessment
Heupel felt good late Saturday afternoon about quarterback Joey Aguilar’s debut performance with the Vols, and that had not changed Monday.
“I thought he was good in his decision-making and his communication,” Heupel said. “He was super calm, and I thought he used his feet at the right moment. He had a great demeanor throughout the course of the game.
“There was a lot to really like from it.”
Aguilar completed 16 of 28 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns against the Orange while also rushing six times for 34 yards. Even more impressive, his ability to make necessary progressions was reflected in a performance that contained no interceptions and no sacks.
“That’s something you always know that quarterbacks have to grow in, right?” Heupel said. “He was smart in his ability to retain information from one day to the next when we were first doing installs with him, and our entire quarterback staff did an elite job of helping him grow really quickly.
“Once we got to training camp, his ability to recall and not make the same mistake twice led you to believe he was going to be able to execute at a really high level.”
Receivers step up
At least Tennessee’s thin crop of receivers stayed healthy, with the returning trio of redshirt junior Chris Brazzell II, sophomore Mike Matthews and redshirt freshman Braylon Staley combining on 11 receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown.
“Chris missed the first half of training camp,” Heupel said. “Braylon played extremely well early and missed 10 days in the middle of it, and Mike got back pretty quickly. I’m not surprised with how they played or performed.
“Those guys have been super diligent and consistent in how they’ve tried to go since they got here, and I thought they all did an elite job on Saturday.”
Staley had four receptions for 95 yards, including a 73-yard touchdown late in the first quarter that required 25 yards after the catch. He was named Monday as the SEC’s freshman of the week.
Cool ‘Dad’ moment
During the trophy ceremony following Saturday’s win, Kitselman took the Aflac Kickoff Classic leather helmet and placed it on Heupel’s son, Jace.
“It was a cool moment for me as a dad,” Heupel said. “It was fun for him to be a part of that, and I appreciate how the guys take him to being a part of our team. It’s something that’s really special, and I remember those days, too, and they are huge memories that I still have.
“I’m excited that he gets to be a part of our whole family. We try to incorporate our families into anything we can do. After practice on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, there are a bunch of wives and baby strollers as the kids get to have lunch with their dads.”
Moi sidelined
Tennessee senior defensive tackle Jaxson Moi will not play this week due to the elbow injury he sustained after just three snaps on Syracuse’s first offensive possession.
The Vols are already without junior defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs, who is working through a stress fracture in his foot.
“I like the guys who got more play than maybe anticipated early in the game,” Heupel said. “We’ve got some young guys who continue to get better, and we feel like they’re going to be able to play at a high level. Jaxson will be out this week, and we hope to get him back quickly.
“You’ve heard me say it, but the strength of a position group can’t be one guy. Everybody has to be ready and prepared.”
Redshirt sophomore Nathan Robinson replaced Moi and had the sack of Steve Angeli that caused the fumble and created the opportunity for Hood’s scoop and score.
“When Nate came in after Jaxson got hurt, I thought everybody responded really well,” redshirt sophomore defensive end Tyree Weathersby said Monday. “We didn’t let it break us.”
Odds and ends
The only prior encounter between Tennessee and ETSU resulted in a 59-3 Vols win in 2018, which is the first of Jeremy Pruitt’s five recognized victories during his three seasons in Knoxville due to NCAA sanctions. … Kitselman on the return timeline after undergoing pectoral surgery in the spring: “We were aiming for Georgia in week three, so to be able to come back and play this first game was really good for me.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.com.