Do any of these Hoosiers make the Buckeyes nervous? #GoBucks
[autotag]Ohio State football[/autotag] opens it’s season on the road with a conference matchup against Indiana.
The Hoosiers are most likely going to go through a transitional season. They lost a majority of their top performers either to graduation, (quarterback [autotag]Connor Bazelak[/autotag] and running back [autotag]Shaun Shivers[/autotag]), or transfer, (linebacker [autotag]Dasan McCullough[/autotag]).
Indiana doesn’t reload like the Buckeyes, but that doesn’t mean head coach [autotag]Tom Allen[/autotag]’s crew will completely roll over on Saturday afternoon. There will be more than a few players in the Hoosiers’ home opener that will want to establish themselves this year. Find out five Hoosiers that could potentially give Ohio State some problems this weekend.
Jackson played for the Vols in 2022, appearing in three games. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound quarterback completed 3-of-4 passing attempts for 37 yards, while totaling 10 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown at Tennessee.
Jackson will play for head coach Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Walt Bell at Indiana.
Bell, from Dickson, Tennessee, played at Middle Tennessee State from 2003-06.
Bell served as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State from 2014-15. At Arkansas State, Bell was co-offensive coordinator with current Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee. Elarbee also served as a graduate assistant (2003-04) and tight ends coach (2005) at Middle Tennessee State when Bell played wide receiver.
Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. EST (SEC Network) at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. The in-state contest is the regular-season finale for both teams.
The 6-foot-4, 218-pound Hooker suffered a season-ending injury versus the Gamecocks with a torn ACL in his left knee.
If Milton III intends to return in 2023 with one season remaining of eligibility, he would join Moore, freshman Tayven Jackson and redshirt sophomore Navy Shuler in a quarterback competition during spring practices in replacing Hooker.
2023 quarterback commit Nico Iamaleava Jr. is also slated to be an early enrollee at Tennessee during spring practices.
The Vols could also pursue an additional signal-caller in the transfer portal.
Below are Tennessee’s quarterbacks by the numbers ahead of the Vols’ final two games in 2022 and spring practices.
“I thought Hendon (Hooker) did a great job throughout the course of the day,” Heupel said. “He made some really nice decisions inside of the pocket, getting through his progression in a really good way and being able to drop the football off.
“I thought Joe (Milton III) did some really positive things. He was able to extend some drives and make some plays. Tayven (Jackson), there were some really good things. He’s continued to progress as we’ve gone through the first six days and today being a scrimmage, there is going to be a lot of things for him at the quarterback position operationally, when it’s time to get rid of the football, not take a sack. There’s going to be some opportunities for him to really grow.”
All Vol Weekend will consist of a fan-friendly spring weekend featuring multiple UT teams in action and a fan fest tailgate, April 7-10.
Tennessee will have a football scrimmage April 9 at 1 p.m. EDT at Anderson Training Center and will be closed to the general public. There will be no live digital stream of the scrimmage.
Volunteer Village at Humanities Plaza will welcome fans and feature two big screens that will carry the scrimmage. In addition to live interviews with head coach Josh Heupel, VFLs and other guests on the screen, Volunteer Village will showcase food trucks, music and activities for all ages from noon-3 p.m. EDT.
Following the Vols’ fifth spring practice on Wednesday, assistant coach Joey Halzle discussed Tennessee’s quarterbacks Hendon Hooker, Joe Milton III and Tayven Jackson.
Golesh said Jackson had a “really good day” in practice Saturday.
“Tayven is really, really fun to watch,” Golesh continued. “He’s a really good athlete. He’s got a really quick release. He’s really grasped the offense through three days well. It’ll be interesting to see, as things pile up, as you go into (practice) four, five and six – pads on today – what he actually looks like.”
Tayven Jackson (10) Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Golesh said it will be interesting when Tennessee scrimmages next week of how Jackson could look with coaches off the field.
“A superb athlete, has a really good understanding and has a really quick trigger,” Golesh continued in describing Jackson through three spring practices. “Everything we kind of hoped he would be, he certainly has been that so far. We’ve got to continue to put more on him and he’s got to continue to grow.
“We talked with him consistently stringing days together. Can he be better tomorrow than he was today? I know this sounds a little bit cliché, but wipe it clean, play the next play, wipe it clean, play the next play. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by a whole lot. He’s just kind of having fun. That kid won a ton of games in high school. He’s a winner, which is exactly what you want to recruit at that spot.”
The football early signing period is taking place Dec. 15-17 for the 2022 recruiting class.
Tayven Jackson has signed with Tennessee.
The 2022 signing period is the first full class under head coach Josh Heupel.
The Vols were 7-5 (4-4 SEC) in 2021 under Heupel. Tennessee will play in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl against Purdue on Dec. 30 (3 p.m. EST, ESPN).
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound signal-caller is from Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana.
The football early signing period takes place Dec. 15-17 for the 2022 recruiting class.
Jackson announced he will sign his national letter of intent Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST.
“I will be signing my letter of intent to Tennessee this Wednesday, Dec. 15 at 3 p.m. EST,” Jackson said on Twitter. “The signing ceremony will take place at Center Grove High School in the auditorium. All media and fans are welcome to attend!”
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound signal-caller is from Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana.
Center Grove played its Week 2 game Friday. The Trojans hosted Decatur Central High School.
Center Grove defeated Decatur Central, 56-7.
Jackson recorded two passing touchdowns and one rushing score in the contest. He totaled 82 yards through the air and became Center Grove’s career leader in passing yards.
The football early signing period takes place Dec. 15-17 for the 2022 recruiting class.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound signal-caller is from Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Indiana.
Center Grove kicked off its 2021 season Friday at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis.
Center Grove defeated Warren Central, 38-14.
Jackson completed 10-of-16 passes for 143 yards and one touchdown. He also scored one rushing touchdown.
Following Jackson’s commitment, Center Grove quarterbacks coach Joe Siderewicz joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” and discussed the type of player the Vols are getting.
Siderewicz mentioned Tennessee’s offense under Josh Heupel is similar to what Jackson is playing in now.
“He has a great offense there,” Siderewicz said of Heupel’s offense at Tennessee. “A lot of those things are things that we do. Tayven loves that kind of stuff. I see some of the similar concepts that we run here that I saw Tennessee run in the spring game. The first pass I saw them complete was an H-back slipping out in the flat, like he was going to trap block the end of the line, and slipped out. That’s one of our first base passes we throw in, a little read there. Tayven will be very comfortable with that.
“He is smart enough about football to know he has a lot to learn there, and the terminology is going to be different, but at least he has those skills, those techniques and experience running those things here at Center Grove.”
The football early signing period takes place Dec. 15-17 for the 2022 recruiting class.
