‘I think they were very pleased with the response’ – Tennessee seemed to have answered one major question last week against Auburn
The Tennessee Volunteers seemed to have answered a big question about their team last week against the Auburn Tigers.
Tennessee seemed to have answered a major question in last weekend’s 24-14 win over Auburn.
The Vols may not be sure who their starting quarterback is right now, but they may have at least settled on their five best offensive linemen (at least for now).
With left guard Wendell Moe set to miss the rest of the season, and with guard Sham Umarov sidelined last week due to injury, the Vols inserted sophomore Nic Moore into the starting lineup against Auburn.
And it seems like it worked.
Moore, who started at center in the season opener against Furman (due to Sam Pendleton’s suspension), started at left guard against Auburn.
The Tennessee native joined a lineup that featured David Sanders Jr at left tackle, Pendleton at center, West Virginia transfer Donovan Haslam at right guard, and Jesse Perry at right tackle.
That group played well together — they got better as the game went along — and the feeling is that it’s the combination the Vols will roll with moving forward.
“I expect him (Moore) to play,” said VolQuest’s Austin Price on Tuesday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will when asked about Tennessee’s offensive line plans against Arkansas. “I would be pretty shocked if he doesn’t play as the starter at left guard in this game.”
“I think they were very pleased with the response (from the OL against Auburn),” continued Price. “They gave up three sacks. Two of them were with Faizon Brandon at quarterback and one with George MacIntyre at quarterback. They were able to effectively run the ball to the tune of 237 yards on the ground. I think there was nice progression.
“They’re still not where they want it to be. They still want to continue to improve. You’d like to see that sack number be zero. But I think on the whole, it’s improved enough to say, ‘Ok, we’ve got some traction here as an offensive line.’ That’s why I said that I would be shocked if they went with another combination this week, other than the one you just saw (against Auburn).”
Keeping everyone healthy will be key — one injury could completely change how the offensive line looks — but this appears to be the Vols’ best combination at the moment.
