Vols Settle On Offensive Line Rotation

Butch Jones, for the last several months, has repeatedly said that he is looking for the “best five” to start along the Vols’ offensive line.

To start the season, against Utah State, the Vols went with a lineup that looked like this:

Left Tackle: Jacob Gilliam

Left Guard: Marcus Jackson

Center: Mack Crowder

Right Guard: Jashon Robertson

Right Tackle: Kyler Kerbyson

That combination didn’t last long, as Gilliam tore his ACL in the season opener, ending his season.

It was already a bit of a surprise that Gilliam, a former walk-on, won the starting left tackle job out of camp. Most folks, including myself, assumed that JuCo transfer Dontavius Blair was a lock to be the Volunteers’ starting left tackle in 2014.

So it was an even bigger surprise who replaced Gilliam when he went down. Jones ended up going with Brett Kendrick at left tackle to finish the Utah State game.

Kendrick, who had been listed as the backup right guard, then got the start against Arkansas State and played OK, albeit against less than stellar competition.

The Vols decided to shake things up a bit against Oklahoma, giving true freshman Coleman Thomas a shot in the rotation for a line that looked like this:

Left Tackle: Kyler Kerbyson

Left Guard: Marcus Jackson

Center: Mack Crowder

Right Guard: Jashon Robertson

Right Tackle: Coleman Thomas

That unit had a bit of trouble against Oklahoma, especially the right side which consists of two true freshman.

But they did get better as the game went along on Saturday night, eventually opening up some running lanes for Jalen Hurd and Marlin Lane.

I’m sure a lot of fans/analysts assumed the Vols might continue to move guys around, especially given Thomas’ struggles in his first start. But that’s not going to be the case, according to Jones’ post-game comments. The Vols’ head coach, when asked about Tennessee’s offensive line going forward, said “That’ll be our five”.

It was assumed that Thomas would start from the get go this season. Jones said several times in the spring/summer that Thomas would be a starter and while it appears that he is now, most thought he would be starting earlier than this. Perhaps it would’ve been better for Thomas’ development had he he got the start against Utah State, but it’s hard to evaluate what you have until you see your players in an actual game.

I would expect this offensive line to get better. Like I said, they got better as the game went along. Oklahoma’s pass rush is one of the best Tennessee will see all season. Considering some of these guys were playing against high school competition a year ago, I’d say they did pretty decent.

And they obviously have the desire/drive to get much better. After the game, newly minted left tackle Kyler Kerbyson said “I don’t want to get Justin [Worley] hit that many times. We can’t keep having these kind of games and have him play the whole season”. 

If the Volunteers can get their offensive line to gel, you might be surprised what team 118 is capable of doing.