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Tennessee freshmen show the future is bright in Knoxville
By Jason Hall
Published:
21 freshmen.
No it’s not a fraternity pledge class, rather the amount of first-year players to see action for the Tennessee Volunteers in their season opening win over Utah State Sunday. After four-straight losing seasons, the Vols managed to put together a top-5 recruiting class. The players entered with extremely high expectations, with several taking on full-time starting roles.
The freshmen answered the call, playing a vital role in Tennessee’s convincing 38-7 victory over the Aggies. The Vols not only sent a message that they may be ready to compete, but also that their young players aren’t just there to watch and learn.
After making successful debuts, the Vol freshman gained an edge in experience and confidence. The first-year players also gave a glimpse of what the future holds for the Tennessee program moving forward. Already projected to have another stellar recruiting class for 2015, Butch Jones has done all the right things to take a struggling program back to prominence. “Brick by brick” isn’t just a catchy phrase. Jones is actually laying the foundation to take a downtrodden Tennessee program and restore its glory and rich history.
Tennessee was fortunate to have 12 players enroll in January. Rather than wait four months, these players got an early advantage to learn the playbook and adjust to the speed of the college game. This much was evident in the successful leaps made by the freshmen in their debut on Sunday.
In Week 2, it will be interesting to see if Jones and his staff give the freshmen players even more playing time. Though they did see the field, the first-year players were involved in rotations that limited how many touches they’d receive or snaps they’d play. Offensively, Tennessee spread the ball around in, what can be assumed as, an effort to analyze their depth at each position.
Jones obviously wants to see the most talented players on the field and that benefits his freshman class. Once they continue to gain experience, they will not only be a competitive team in 2014, but also a force to be reckoned with for the next few years.
A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky
