Josh Heupel explains why Tennessee Vols senior didn't start in win against UTEP
Tennessee Vols senior offensive lineman Javontez Spraggins didn't start in UT's win against UTEP last weekend. It was the first game this season that Spraggins wasn't the Vols' starting right guard. Spraggins played 28 snaps against UTEP, but was it was redshirt senior Jackson Lampley that received the start at right guard instead. Lampley played […]
Tennessee Vols senior offensive lineman Javontez Spraggins didn't start in UT's win against UTEP last weekend.
It was the first game this season that Spraggins wasn't the Vols' starting right guard.
Spraggins played 28 snaps against UTEP, but was it was redshirt senior Jackson Lampley that received the start at right guard instead.
Lampley played 32 snaps in the win.
On Monday, Vols head coach Josh Heupel was asked about the decision to start Lampley over Spraggins.
“Just (an) opportunity for Lamp on Senior Day to get a start," said Heupel. "Spraggs has been awesome throughout the course of the year. And he’s going to play a bunch of ball for us on Saturday (against Vanderbilt).”
Spraggins has been banged up over the last several weeks, so it's no surprise that his snaps were limited in Tennessee's blowout win against UTEP.
As for Spraggins not starting, it sounds like Heupel and the coaching staff simply wanted to give Lampley, a player that's been at Tennessee since 2019, a start in his final career home game.
Lampley played a lot for the Vols over the last few years, but the start against UTEP was just the third of his career.
Tennessee’s players and coaches need to watch Clark Lea’s speech in the Vanderbilt locker room after Commodores’ loss to LSU
Required viewing for Tennessee
