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Tennessee football: Vols LB Jonathan Kongbo out for season in awful break

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Jonathan Kongbo #99 of the Tennessee Volunteers pressures Logan Marchi #4 of the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers during a game at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Jonathan Kongbo #99 of the Tennessee Volunteers pressures Logan Marchi #4 of the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers during a game at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football senior Jonathan Kongbo suffered a season-ending injury Saturday. The Volunteers senior is out with a torn ACL.

It honestly could not have been more unfair. Jonathan Kongbo had just played his best game of the season and showed what he could be as Tennessee football upset the Auburn Tigers. He was on the field as the Vols built a 27-17 lead in the game.

But he suffered an injury in the third quarter after a low block from Chandler Cox and watched the rest of the game on crutches. On Sunday, Jeremy Pruitt confirmed on The Nation on WNML that Kongbo will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL. As a senior, that means his career is over in college.

This is really sad because of everything Kongbo went through. He committed as a five-star junior college transfer to Butch Jones. Then Jones forced him to play defensive tackle, which he wasn’t used to, in 2016 due to all the injuries.

In 2017, Kongbo moved back to end but still had to shuffle around due to injuries. Finally, when Jermey Pruitt came along, he moved Kongbo to outside linebacker in his 3-4 scheme. Although he had growing pains, he clearly got comfortable in the system after the bye.

And it showed against Auburn. Kongbo had two tackles and an interception in the game. He was getting a good bit of pressure as well. But up 27-17, Chandler Cox came across the backfield and hit him low to block him.

The block wasn’t necessarily a cheap shot, but it’s one that shouldn’t be allowed. If the league is going to have all these rules to protect offensive players, why can’t they do the same thing for defensive players rushing into the backfield? That’s the really sad thing.

Tennessee football will now likely turn to Deandre Johnson to play that side the rest of the way. Johnson did have four tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry. So he and Darrell Taylor could likely make a big impact. But the situation is still super unfair to Kongbo.

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