Notes From Vols’ Practice: Georgia Game Week

The Vols’ quarterbacks run through drills during Wednesday’s practice in preparation for Tennessee’s game against Georgia on Saturday, September 27th. PHOTO: Nathanael Rutherford

The Vols took the practice field again Wednesday afternoon as they prepared for their first SEC game of the 2014 season against the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs. The media wasn’t able to view much from today’s practice, but there was still plenty to see.

Wide receivers Von Pearson and Josh Smith did not attend practice today, but defensive tackle Trevarris Saulsberry looked to be a full participant during practice and was wearing braces on both knees. Running back Derrell Scott was also a full participant today.

Most of the work during the open portion of today’s practice was special teams, and Butch Jones and his staff are really putting an emphasis on executing more efficiently in every aspect of special teams play.

Here are some notes from today’s practice:

• During the main portion of punting today, coaches blasted music and crowd noise to attempt to throw off punter Matt Darr. Some of the music included various Georgia fight songs and even “The Imperial March,” known best as Darth Vader’s theme music in the Star Wars films.
• Devrin Young had a couple big returns during kickoff drills today, but it’s difficult to tell if it was because of good blocking or poor execution by the kicking team.
• A.J. Johnson ran some drills at running back again today, making it the second time in two weeks that Johnson has practiced at running back.
• While most of the team worked on kick returning, the offensive line practice footwork and blocking. While they didn’t line up on offense, the rotation doesn’t seem to have changed drastically since the Oklahoma game.

Observations:

Derrell Scott looks to be working himself into the running back rotation. Scott practiced with Marlin Lane, Jalen Hurd, and Devrin Young during running back drills. It was announced earlier this week Scott would travel with the Vols for the Georgia game, and it’s expected he might contribute on special teams initially.

Butch Jones had his team run through the punting drill multiple times, holding the last period over several minutes as he and his staff focused on the details of blocking and penetration. With so many young players scattered through the special teams units, Jones and his staff are spending extra time on making sure the players understand their responsibilities.

Seeing A.J. Johnson practice with the running backs again today makes it look more like a possibility that the “beast package” will make a return sometime this season. As a sophomore, Johnson scored 6 goal line touchdowns as a wildcat quarterback operating out the special package.