Tennessee redshirt junior running back DeSean Bishop knows that a second consecutive 1,000-yard season would go a long way in helping the Volunteers have an enjoyable autumn.
Especially with the quarterback competition that will likely dominate August camp conversations.
“I’m just trying to set the standard for the run game this year and just chase that,” the 5-foot-10, 210-pound Bishop said last week at the Southeastern Conference’s media days in Tampa, Florida. “Ultimately, if you can run the ball, you control the game, so I believe that’s going to help the team in a tremendous way.”
Yet Bishop, who rushed 182 times for 1,076 yards (5.9 per carry) and 16 touchdowns a year ago, also knows that he can’t get every carry.
That’s where sophomore Daune Morris from Chattanooga enters the picture. Morris, a 5-10, 198-pounder, and Tulane transfer Javin Gordon are expected to be the first options when Bishop needs a breather.
“Daune has grown a lot from his freshman to sophomore year,” Bishop said. “He is continuing to prove himself every day and continuing to work hard and continuing to step into an older role and learning the game the best way he can. We’re going to need him this year to take a little of the load off of me.
“We’re going to need everybody in that room to be as ready as they can be.”
Gordon is a 5-10, 210-pound sophomore from Toccoa, Georgia.
Morris, who played at Red Bank through his sophomore season of high school before transferring to Murfreesboro’s Oakland, rushed 35 times for 133 yards (3.8) and a touchdown last year. He had 14 carries for 41 yards during the 31-11 triumph at Florida, and his season totals also included three kickoff returns for 92 yards and three punt returns for 24 yards.
After wearing No. 19 last season, Morris is donning No. 17 this year. He is the lightest of Tennessee’s running back contingent that also includes fellow sophomore Justin Baker, who like Bishop and Gordon is listed at 5-10, 210.
“I think Daune is a change-of-pace back who can really change the speed of a game,” Bishop said. “He really plays hard and can catch the ball out of the backfield well. That’s his specialty, but overall, he’s going to be a weapon on the field for us.”
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Bishop’s 182 carries last season represented a healthy 44.8% of the rushes that went to Tennessee running backs. That actually pales to the year before with Dylan Sampson, who set the program’s single-season rushing mark with 1,491 yards on 258 rushes, a whopping 57.3% of the running back totes.
How many carries Morris receives this season will not only depend on Bishop breathers but how effective he is without the ball.
“Daune’s pass pro(tection) has gotten better,” Vols running backs coach De’Rail Sims said in the spring. “It’s not to the level that we all want it be at yet, but it’s gotten better. You are seeing him be more physical. You are seeing him putting hands on people now.
“From a running the football standpoint, he’s done a really good job, and we all know what kind of weapon he’s going to be in the passing game.”
Pairing announced
Former Tennessee receiver Jayson Swain, who amassed 126 receptions for 1,721 yards and 10 touchdowns during his four seasons from 2003-06, will be the new Vol Network color analyst alongside play-by-play voice Mike Keith.
Swain is replacing Ramon Foster, who in May was named as color analyst of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
Selling out
Tennessee announced this week that home games against Kennesaw State (Sept. 19), Texas (Sept. 26), Auburn (Oct. 3) and Alabama (Oct. 17) have already sold out and that limited tickets remain for the Furman (Sept. 5), Kentucky (Nov. 7) and LSU (Nov. 21) contests.
Fans can purchase single-game tickets at AllVols.com.
The Vols will enter the 2026 season having sold out 27 consecutive games at Neyland Stadium.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.