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Tennessee football’s five most concerning signs from 2022 spring practice

By Caleb Calhoun

Players warm up at Tennessee Vols football first spring practice, Tuesday, March 22, 2022.Kns Vols Spring Parctice Cm
Players warm up at Tennessee Vols football first spring practice, Tuesday, March 22, 2022.Kns Vols Spring Parctice Cm /
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Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during Tennessee football spring practice at Haslam Field in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.Kns Ut Spring Fball 10
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel during Tennessee football spring practice at Haslam Field in Knoxville, Tenn. on Tuesday, April 5, 2022.Kns Ut Spring Fball 10 /

2. Signs of a turnover problem on both sides arose.

Everybody who saw the open scrimmage could tell the offense had a turnover problem. Tennessee football had two defensive touchdowns. Elijah Herring had one of them that was just a giveaway by the other side of the ball. To a degree, the defense being that far ahead is generally a good sign this early on.

However, based on what we all saw in that game and things that were said, it seems that the opposite is currently true. Josh Heupel in multiple press conference lamented the fact that the defense wouldn’t come away with takeaways, particularly after one scrimmage.

When you combine that with what we saw in the spring game, it seems that the turnovers were way more about the offense being prone to giving it away than the defense getting takeaways. For obvious reasons, that’s a huge issue if it carries into the season.

Turnover margin is still the biggest determinant of a successful vs. a non-successful season. If the Vols can’t take care of the ball while also being unable to come away with turnovers, it doesn’t matter how much they move the ball throughout a game. As a result, while the information is limited, it’s a major concern going forward.

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