Vols insider offers injury update on key Tennessee player while detailing a potential concern for UT against Ohio State
The Tennessee Vols will travel to Columbus this weekend for a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff. Both programs have had a few weeks to get healthy, which is especially important for Tennessee's wide receiver group. The Vols' top receivers — Dont'e Thornton, Bru McCoy, and […]
The Tennessee Vols will travel to Columbus this weekend for a matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Both programs have had a few weeks to get healthy, which is especially important for Tennessee's wide receiver group.
The Vols' top receivers — Dont'e Thornton, Bru McCoy, and Squirrel White — have all been dealing with nagging injuries throughout the season.
Fortunately for Tennessee, it sounds like the Vols should have all of their receivers available for the game against Ohio State, including White, who is the biggest question mark of that group.
VolQuest's Brent Hubbs joined 104.5. The Zone's Ramon, Kayla, and Will on Friday to discuss the Tennessee vs Ohio State game and he provided an update on White's status. Hubbs also brought to light a potential concern for the Vols.
"Bru's healthy, Bru's fine, he should be good to go," said Hubbs. "The hamstring has not given him any difficulties, so it shouldn't be an issue unless something flares up in warm-ups. Squirrel's going to play, but he's not going to be 100 percent. I don't think he's been 100 percent for two and a half months now. He's got both shoulders banged up. So we'll see how much he goes.
"If he is limited in any way, I think that's the other question is what does Tennessee do schematically then (if White is limited)? And personnel wise? With Chas Nimrod in the portal and no longer a part of this team, do you trust a guy like (true freshman) Braylon Staley, who's played in four games this year in mop duty and probably has 30 snaps under his belt? Do you go two tight ends and take the slot off the field? Do you move Bru into the slot? What about (tight end) Ethan Davis? Could he play some slot receiver for you in some matchups? I think that slot position behind Squirrel White and how they manage that position, if White's not on the field, is intriguing to watch. I'm kind of curious, particularly down in plus territory, could you use Ethan Davis in that situation? Big bodied guy, good athlete who was a big receiver in high school, could you use him for some advantages with X's and O's and matchups? Or do you slide a guy like (Chris) Brazzell inside? Or do you slide McCoy inside? McCoy and Brazzell both have red zone touchdowns out of the slot position, so you could move them around a little bit."
White is second on the team this season (behind McCoy) in receptions with 33. He's played in all 12 games despite dealing with injuries for much of the season. The Alabama native is incredibly tough so I imagine he'll do whatever he can to play as many snaps as possible against the Buckeyes.
But if White is forced out of the game due to injury, it sounds like Tennessee, because of the losses they've suffered to the transfer portal, could have a couple of different options they could utilize out of the slot. And a couple of those options (such as using Ethan Davis) could prove to be unexpected matchup advantages for the Vols against the Buckeyes.
Tennessee and Ohio State will kick off at 8:00 PM ET on Saturday night. The winner of the game will take on the Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.
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