Tennessee football: Wrong Vol was named SEC OL of the Week

Rushing for over 200 yards and averaging over five yards a carry as a team is naturally going to be a testament to the interior lineman. As a result, it was reasonable to believe that Tennessee football would be recognized by the SEC for its performance against the Florida Gators.

Indeed, guard Javontez Spraggins was named SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week as Hendon Hooker, who rushed for 112 yards in addition to his 349 passing yards, was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week. However, Cooper Mays should’ve won the award.

Spraggins technically didn’t allow a hurry or a sack, and he spent a lot of time going up against 415-pound Florida defensive lineman Desmond Watson. Mays did too, and Mays laid the key block on Watson for Jabari Small’s one-yard touchdown run.

If you look at the PFF grades, Mays was slightly better than Spraggins, although it’s basically a wash. The only thing somebody might hold against Mays is a bad snap on one play, but it was waived off due to a Florida offside penalty, and Mays may have have draw the offside by snapping it there, so it may not have been a mistake.

Two plays may have resulted in Spraggins getting the nod over Mays. One is the 44-yard run by Hooker when the Vols were up 24-21. That’s because Hooker made that run after Mays got pushed back significantly and almost allowed a sack.

However, it’s unfair to hold that against him over Spraggins, as Spraggins didn’t block anybody on that rush. That’s not to say Spraggins made a mistake not blocking anybody, but as the pocket collapsed, he certainly wasn’t targeted on that side.

Another play that could have had a factor is the fourth down strip-sack on Hooker in the first half. Mays was the first to block Amari Burney, and Burney then blew past him for the strip-sack. However, if you look at the clip, Mays had to move on from Burney to pick up another man on the blitz there.

Jaylen Wright was supposed to pick up Burney after Mays moved on from him, and Burney easily knocked Wright to the ground. As a result, while Mays could be blamed for the sack technically, it should really fall on Wright for not picking up that block.

To be fair, Spraggins, Mays and Jerome Carvin all did their jobs for Tennessee football in this game. Darnell Wright was also solid on the right side. The only area up front where the Vols struggled was left tackle, which is the one spot that doesn’t have a returning starter.

Gerald Mincey did a lot of things right, but he had a false start on the opening drive, committed a holding penalty that waived off a Hooker touchdown run. As a result, he’s still got a lot of developing to do, but even he played relatively well for most of the game.

As a unit, Tennessee football’s offensive line didn’t have the highest PFF grades, but that’s misleading given the style of play they were running. Everybody mostly blocked well, but Mays was the anchor for the group, so he should’ve been SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week.