Freshman receiver Preston Williams expected to play in Tennessee's opener

Tennessee freshman wide receiver Preston Williams looks on during the Vols' open practice at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 15, 2015.
Tennessee freshman wide receiver Preston Williams looks on during the Vols' open practice at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 15, 2015.
photo Tennessee freshman wide receiver Preston Williams looks on during the Vols' open practice at Neyland Stadium on Aug. 15, 2015.

Vols' opponent scouting report: Bowling Green

Season rewind: The Falcons finished 8-6 and won a second consecutive Mid-American Conference East Division title. After losing 51-17 to Northern Illinois in the MAC championship game, Bowling Green beat South Alabama 33-28 in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. Bowling Green's best win was against Indiana a week before the Hoosiers upset Missouri. Coaching capsule: Dino Babers is in his second season after he was hired in 2013 from Eastern Illinois to replace Dave Clawson, the former Tennessee offensive coordinator who guided the Falcons to a 32-30 record in five seasons and left for Wake Forest. Babers previously coached at Baylor, UCLA, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M. At EIU, Babers coached current New England Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo. One to watch: Wide receiver Roger Lewis caught 73 passes for 1,093 yards and seven touchdowns as a freshman last year and headlines a group of returning skill players who had a whopping 481 career catches and 5,952 career receiving yards in 2014. BY THE NUMBERS 1,103: Only Arizona, Baylor and Oregon ran more plays than Bowling Green's 1,103 in 2014. The Falcons had 55 scoring drives of three minutes or less last season. 125: The Falcons' offensive line returns 125 career starts, which ranks second in the country according to analyst Phil Steele. 493.6: Bowling Green has only three starters back from a defense that allowed the 11th-most yards per game in the FBS and gave up at least 35 points seven times in 2014. Brian Ward from Western Illinois is the new defensive coordinator. QUOTABLE "They get rid of the ball really quickly. They're really fast-tempo, and the offensive line, they're veterans, so they know what to do. They know how to win ballgames. We're just going to have keep on grinding it out through the whole game and not get frustrated up front." - Tennessee DE Derek Barnett

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee football coach Butch Jones believes the Volunteers could play as many as 22 true freshmen in Saturday's season opener against Bowling Green in Nashville.

Wide receiver Preston Williams may be the most intriguing and most surprising debutant.

The 6-foot-4, 209-pound five-star recruit learned only last Thursday that he would be eligible to play this season, and he's coming off a significant knee injury, but Jones said Monday he fully anticipates Williams playing Saturday.

"He's definitely a very dynamic kid on and off the field," quarterback Josh Dobbs said. "I think it's great. I actually played against him in high school. He went to Lovejoy and I went to Alpharetta, so I've known Preston for a while and recruited him a little bit. Getting him on campus and finally being able to get him out on the field has been great.

"I'm definitely excited to see what he's going to do this year."

Given he didn't go through training camp and isn't fully healthy - Jones estimated his health, in percent forms, was in the "mid-90s" - it seemed unlikely Williams would be able to play early this season.

Williams has been working out and conditioning on his own this month while awaiting word on his eligibility after retaking his standardized test.

Jones indicated the coaches would get a better grasp on how much Williams could play and what his role might be Saturday based on how he practices this week.

"You have to make sure you don't overload him immediately," Jones said. "He is a young man who had no training camp, no structured conditioning. He's done it all on his own, so he's really been removed from our football team.

"We have to make sure we take it a step-by-step process that we don't ask too much of him too early, not only from a mental standpoint but also from a physical standpoint. We just have to be very smart and very creative in how we get him to the game and give him a package he can handle and not ask him to do too much."

Jumping to the top

Sophomore walk-on Colton Jumper, a former Baylor School standout, was listed as the starting middle linebacker on the depth chart Tennessee released Monday.

Jones suggested freshman Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Kenny Bynum would play Saturday, but it's Jumper who emerged as the winner of one of Tennessee's primary preseason position battles.

"He's been preparing for it since the spring," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "Me and him talk a lot, and I've been telling him, 'You've got to be focused and you've got to be ready for it, because when your name is called, you've got to live up to the expectation.' We'll all see Saturday that he's prepared for it and he's been working hard for it."

'Fluid' up front

It's still a guessing game as to who will start on Tennessee's offensive line, particularly at center and right tackle.

Coleman Thomas is listed as a co-starter at center with Mack Crowder and at right tackle with Brett Kendrick on the depth chart Jones described as "very fluid."

"I look at us as having eight or nine starters," Jones said.

"The offensive line will continue to move some people around, but we'll also work more toward continuity and individuals working together. We're not in any place right now to say these are our starting five, because we have too many kids that have worked really, really hard to put themselves in that conversation."

Kyler Kerbyson and Jashon Robertson are locked in as the line's left side, Dylan Wiesman is in line to start at right guard and Chance Hall, Jack Jones, Venzell Boulware and Charles Mosley round out the Vols' top 10.

"I'm 100 percent confident with whoever the five guys are," Dobbs said. "The offensive line group is a group that's really come together, especially this offseason, just working and grinding together and pushing each other. I think it's great.

"They're all competing against each other and pushing each other to be great. You've got the older guys really bringing along the younger guys. There's a definitely a good dynamic in the O-line room, and it really projects throughout the whole offense."

Tennessee tidbits

Freshman wide receiver Vincent Perry will miss the season after undergoing knee surgery Friday, while wideout Jason Croom is expected to miss three to five weeks after also having surgery Friday on the same knee he injured in December.

* Receiver Marquez North is "100 percent" healthy, Jones said, after missing a week of practice with a knee injury.

* Freshman safety Stephen Griffin (ankle) was cleared to return to practice this week after missing most of preseason practice and should be available for Saturday's opener.

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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