The Tennessee Volunteers were originally scheduled to open their 2020 football season on Saturday against the Charlotte 49ers.
When the Southeastern Conference delayed the start of its season to Sept. 26 due to coronavirus concerns, Saturday became a scrimmage opportunity.
Ultimately, however, the Vols ventured to Neyland Stadium for a practice without 44 of their players.
"I'm really happy we didn't play today," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said Saturday afternoon on a Zoom call. "If we had played today, we would have had a hard time beating anybody, so I guess that might be a blessing in itself."
Pruitt provided a breakdown of the absences, stating that seven or eight were due to active COVID-19 cases and that 27 or 28 were the result of contact tracing. The remainder were out because of various injuries, which would include fifth-year senior tight end Austin Pope (recovering from back surgery) and freshman defensive back Tamarion McDonald (redshirting after shoulder surgery).
Tennessee is up to 48 players who have missed 14 days due to quarantine, Pruitt said, and four of those players have been quarantined twice.
"With the contact tracing and the numbers as they add up, it's been very tough to be able to prepare a team to play," Pruitt said. "We get 25 practices, and we'll probably end up practicing 20 to 22 times unless something changes in the next couple of weeks. We're learning as we go.
"When a guy misses 14 days of practice or 14 days of training and has to start over, it kind of has a cumulative effect a little bit. There have been a few injuries here and there but nothing severe."
The Vols have reached the halfway mark of their preseason, which began on Aug. 17 and concludes with an opening trip to South Carolina. When asked about when preparation for the Gamecocks could begin, Pruitt responded that it already has to a degree.
"We've had to do a little bit along the way," he said. "We've got certain positions to where we have to rely on guys who don't have a whole lot of experience, and if somebody gets hit by contact tracing and is in quarantine for 14 days, they may not be able to come out of quarantine until the Wednesday before the South Carolina game.
"We're trying to give the guys a little bit of the game plan, because that's the game we're focused on, so we've really kind of started a little bit."
Despite the slew of players missing, the Vols were still able to get some situational short-yardage and red-zone work and some work on special teams. Pruitt even had enough of a practice sample to form an opinion.
"I've really been excited about our offensive unit," he said. "We had 31 offensive players who didn't practice today, but these guys continue to play together, and they play with an attitude. I've been excited about them.
"Defensively, to me, has been very disappointing, especially up front with a lack of physicality to finish. It's something we definitely have to improve on in these next three weeks."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.