Tennessee CB Colton Hood’s availability for Oklahoma game made clear by SEC availability report
Tennessee fans got some great news about an impact player ahead of the Vols’ clash with Oklahoma.
The Tennessee Volunteers will appear to have one of their most important players on defense on the field on Saturday when they take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night in Knoxville.
The SEC released the initial availability report on Wednesday night for Saturday’s game, and CB Colton Hood’s name was not on the list, meaning he should be good to go on Saturday.
Tennessee CB Colton Hood not on the availability report for Oklahoma
Hood suffered an injury in the second half of Tennessee’s 56-34 win over the Kentucky Wildcats that had his availability against the Sooners in doubt. Josh Heupel didn’t add much on Monday regarding Hood’s status, but he had a brief comment that led to uncertainty for the early part of the week.
“Stay tuned to the injury report,” Heupel said during his weekly press conference.
The move is not a normal one by Heupel, as his usual modus operandi is to offer a comment that he believes the player is good to go or has a chance to play. But, with the SEC availability reports coming into play in 2024, there’s no real gamesmanship left for comments, as teams know at least somewhat about a player’s status by midweek.
Hood’s presence would obviously be a huge one. The Colorado transfer has played at a very high level and helped handle the absence of starters Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III. He has the third-highest Pro Football Focus grade on the Vols’ defense at 77.3 and the highest coverage mark on the team at 78.6. He’s allowed just 14 catches on 33 targets this season with opposing quarterbacks posting a 57.0 passer rating when targeting the receiver that Hood is covering.
McCoy will be out on Saturday, but the only other notable name on there is LB Arion Carter, who is the only player listed as questionable for Tennessee.
The Vols and Sooners will get underway a little after 7:30 pm ET on Saturday night inside Neyland Stadium.
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