Tennessee concluded spring football practices with its annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game Saturday at Neyland Stadium under first-year head coach Josh Heupel.
821 yards were produced on 99 total plays during the contest.
Tennessee treated the two prior days ahead of the Orange & White Game as a traditional game week format.
Ahead of the spring game, Tennessee’s coaching staff placed an emphasis on red zone production.
Following spring practice No. 13 on Thursday, Tennessee offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Alex Golesh mentioned the Vols had a heavy red zone day.
The Vols used spring practice No. 14th as a fast walk through on Friday before gameday.
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Tennessee’s red zone preparation showed in the Orange & White Game.
Both Orange and White teams combined for a perfect 9-for-9 in the red zone (six rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns and one field goal), totaling 59 points and zero turnovers.
Following the contest, first-year head coach Josh Heupel discussed Tennessee’s quarterback unit that consists of senior Hendon Hooker, sophomore Harrison Bailey and redshirt sophomore Brian Maurer competing for the starting position this spring.
Bailey went 12-for-15 for 261 passing yards and touchdowns in the spring game.
Maurer was 9-for-15, 171 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Hooker was 10-for-14 for 111 passing yards, one touchdown and an interception. Warren Burrell intercepted Hooker and returned it for a touchdown.
“They’ve come a long ways in the last 14 days, leading up to today,” Heupel said of the quarterback unit. “I think if you break spring ball up into thirds, every five practices, you’ve seen exponential growth from all of them. In their command of what we’re doing, ability to get signals and get lined up. Get their eyes, feet in the right place, be accurate with the football.
“I think the last three or four practices have been all of their best practices. I thought they played really efficient today. There were a couple times we needed to get rid of the ball maybe a little bit quicker, if they’re in a real, live situation. I think some of that is tough to judge when you know you’re not live, as well, but did a really good job of taking care of the football besides the one pick where Burrell makes a great break on the football and turns it into six points – a momentum changing play right there. Proud of what each of them have done this spring. I thought they all operated well today. They all had great composure out there.”
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols WirePhoto by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
The NCAA transfer portal has been a staple throughout college football in terms of student-athletes departing and arriving on different school’s rosters.
Following the Orange & White Game, Heupel discussed if he expects player movement on Tennessee’s roster with the quarterback unit ahead of the 2021 season.
“I think the quarterback position, along with every position on your roster, with the transfer portal and where we’re at, you have the opportunity to continue to add guys into your program as you get toward the end of the semester and lead into May, before guys are back working out, when you start summer workouts,” Heupel said.
“I’ve been through enough quarterback battles as a player or a coach to know that there’s so much time as you leave spring ball,” Heupel said. “We’ve had 15 practices. We’re going to have a lot more than that when we get to training camp, but they get a chance to sit back now and digest everything that’s gone on this spring. Get a chance to go through some installs this summer. They get a chance to coach it, own it, a little bit on their own. They get a chance to learn from the mistakes. They have an opportunity to come back a much better and different football player by the time they get to training camp.
“You allow your players to grow through this offseason. I think that’s important at the quarterback position, but it’s true everywhere. You have to judge players for who they are today, not where they were yesterday. You have to give kids an opportunity to make that movement during the June and July process.”
Josh Heupel ‘proud’ of where Vols have an opportunity to go following spring practices.
Tennessee concluded spring football practices on Saturday with its annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game at Neyland Stadium.
Orange defeated White, 42-37.
Following the contest, Josh Heupel recapped the game, calling it “a great day for Tennessee football.”
The first-year Tennessee head coaching mentioned he is “proud of this team, this spring.”
“In a short amount of time that we’ve been here as a coaching staff, the growth that they’ve shown, the accountability that we’re learning how to have every single day, the accountability to themselves, but to each other here is really important,” Heupel said. “Proud of where we’re at and where we have an opportunity to go.
“A group that is becoming connected, playing for each other and growing in the right ways. Proud of what they’ve done here, obviously we have a big portion of our offseason here coming up, as we get into summer conditioning.”
Tennessee will kick off the 2021 season Sept. 4 against Bowling Green at Neyland Stadium.
The 2021 spring football season came to an end for Tennessee with the annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
The Orange defeated White, 42-38, in an offensive shootout.
New Volunteers’ head coach Josh Heupel used four quarterbacks, including returners Brian Maurer, Harrison Bailey and Spencer Smith. Newcomer Hendon Hooker, a transfer from Virginia Tech, also played.
Hooker closed out the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown strike to Cedric Tillman.
Maurer was 9-for-15. He threw 171 yards and two scores. Bailey went 12-for-15, amassing 261 yards and had a pair of touchdown strikes. One went to Knoxville Catholic graduate Jack Jancek and covered 73 yards.
Velus Jones Jr. junior was on the receiving end of Bailey’s other scoring pass.
Hooker was 10-for-14 for 111 yards. He had a touchdown pass and threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Warren Burrell.
Burrell’s interception return was the big defensive play of the day.
Jancek, the son of former UT defensive coordinator John Jancek, had two receptions for 137 yards and was targeted twice.
Hunter Salmon also had a touchdown reception.
Jabari Small had a pair of rushing touchdowns on the day, while Antonio Malone, Tyon Evans, Hooker and Jaylen Wright each scored on the ground in the contest.
Small was the leading rusher on the day as he carried 11 times for 45 yards.
Tennessee’s annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game is taking place Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee’s annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game is taking place Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Ahead of kickoff, former Tennessee quarterback Sterling Henton returned to Neyland Stadium as a disc jockey.
Henton is known as “Sterl the Pearl” when being a DJ. The former Vol would DJ from the Neyland Stadium sidelines when Butch Jones served as head coach through the 2017 season for Tennessee.
Henton played for the Vols from 1987-90, totaling 1,238 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, 187 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
He played for head coach and former Vol Johnny Majors.
Tennessee’s annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game is taking place Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee’s annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game is taking place Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Ahead of kickoff, former Tennessee quarterback Sterling Henton returned to Neyland Stadium as a disc jockey.
Henton is known as “Sterl the Pearl” when being a DJ. The former Vol would DJ from the Neyland Stadium sidelines when Butch Jones served as head coach through the 2017 season for Tennessee.
Henton played for the Vols from 1987-90, totaling 1,238 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, 187 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.
He played for head coach and former Vol Johnny Majors.
Tennessee will conclude spring football practices Saturday at Neyland Stadium with its annual Chevrolet Orange & White Game.
Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. EDT.
SEC Network+ will broadcast the game. Mark Neely (play-by-play) and Mike Golic Jr. (analyst) will call the game.
The Vol Network (WIVK-FM 107.7/WNML-FM 99.1) will carry the game on radio. Live streaming is also available on utsports.com and the UT Athletics app.
The Vol Network will be live starting at 4 p.m. EDT with Bob Kesling (play-by-play).
Tennessee will kick off the 2021 season under first-year head coach Josh Heupel on Sept. 4 against Bowling Green at Neyland Stadium.
Season tickets for the centennial celebration of Neyland Stadium and the start of the Heupel era at Tennessee are on sale now at AllVols.com. Season tickets start as low as $300, with the Vol Pass and payment plan options offered.
