KNOXVILLE - From the moment he started playing football, Wanya Morris had to shake the nice-guy label bestowed to him by his mother.
"I like people. I'm a people person," the Tennessee freshman offensive lineman said recently. "I've never really been a person to hurt people. But I've always liked football, so I had to learn to be tougher. I got there; I'm getting there."
He hasn't really been one to get personal fouls, but he had a few during his high school career. He nearly had one - for targeting - for a peel-back block against Georgia last week, something that caught the eye of head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
"He was like, 'It's OK,'" Morris said of Pruitt. "He sees that we're putting in that effort and toughness. That's one thing he really stresses about - being tough, showing effort, finishing through the whistle. That's one thing that we're going to continue to do."
Trying to shed the label has been nearly as difficult as figuring out how to block some of the talented defensive fronts in the Southeastern Conference.
Doing battle in the rough-and-rugged trenches has helped "toughen" the 6-foot-4, 313-pounder. Morris was one of three Tennessee football freshmen to start their first game on campus this year, but the only offensive one when he lined up at left tackle against Georgia State. To say it's been a seamless transition from being one of the top prospects in the country coming out of high school would be false, but it's one he and fellow freshman lineman Darnell Wright - who has started the past two games at right guard - are going through together.
The two are roommates and spend a lot of time talking about how they can help improve all facets of the offense.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Tennessee freshman offensive lineman Wanya Morris has been a fixture in the starting lineup this season."There's times - both of them - when you watch them play, there's some really good things that they do," Pruitt said. "But the thing that they both have to focus on is the habits that they create every day.
"The good Lord blessed them with a lot of ability, but what are they going to do with that ability and take it and go to work every single day? What are their goals? ... From the last snap of every practice, whether it's on a Monday or whether it's on a Saturday, how do you go to work? How do you work to create the right habits to improve to be at your best all the time? That's something that they have to decide how good they want to be."
They are part of a talented offensive-line class that also includes Chris Akporoghene, who has worked his way into the rotation after missing time due to injury. At one point during the portion of Wednesday's practice open to media, Akporoghene was working at first-team right guard.
It could be the latest shakeup in what has been a fluid situation all season on the offensive line. Only senior center Brandon Kennedy has started all five games; Morris is next with four starts.
The results have been average as the Volunteers (1-4, 0-2) rank near the bottom of the SEC in every offensive category. But there have been glimpses of good things, such as the first halves against Georgia State, BYU and Florida. The team just needs more of them as more challenges lie ahead, beginning with Saturday's noon clash against Mississippi State (3-2, 1-1) at Neyland Stadium, which will be televised by SEC Network.
"I love playing against the talent," Morris said. "Playing against people really good fires me up, because I'm like, 'OK, let's see what they can do. What can I learn from them? What mistake did I make that I can improve on?'
"Only playing better people is going to make you better. What doesn't hurt you makes you better."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.