It’s no secret that Josh Heupel’s system makes Tennessee football a highly attractive place for wide receivers. A couple of things that have happened over the past two weeks put them in great position for an elite receiver from South Carolina for 2024.
Greenville High School receiver Mazeo Bennett Jr., out of Greenville, S.C., has the Vols in his top eight. A four-star across all services, Bennett stands between 5’11” and 6’0″ and weighs in the range of 165 to 175 pounds.
Joining Tennessee football on Bennett’s list are the South Carolina Gamecocks, Georgia Bulldogs, Alabama Crimson Tide, North Carolina Tar Heels, Florida State Seminoles, Miami Hurricanes and Oregon Ducks. He announced the schools and his commitment date Saturday on Twitter.
OCTOBER 16TH… THE COMMITMENT#LONGLIVEDUFFY. pic.twitter.com/25bKorJqBG
— JEFE (@TheMazeoBennett) October 1, 2022
Currently, South Carolina seems like the overwhelming favorite to land him, as they are the unanimous favorite on the Rivals Future Cast and the majority favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast. On3 has them as a plurality favorite.
However, On3 has UT in second place. When Bennett makes his commitment on Sunday, Oct. 16, the Vols may be sitting in a much better spot than South Carolina. Few people have faith in Shane Beamer’s program. That might get exposed soon.
This week, South Carolina visits the Kentucky Wildcats, a game that could turn truly awful for them. They then have a bye. The Vols, meanwhile, visit the LSU Tigers, and then they host Alabama, and they may get both without their quarterback.
Those factors alone could give UT momentum, but there’s another factor. Bennett was on hand for the Vols’ 38-33 win over the Florida Gators. While the Neyland Stadium environment probably swept him up enough, what happened on the field also helped.
Rocky Top was without its top receiver in Cedric Tillman. Bru McCoy still had over 100 yards and a touchdown. Ramel Keyton and Jalin Hyatt still balled out. In that environment, Bennett was able to see first hand how Heupel can turn receivers into stars.
Taking all of that into account, Tennessee football is actually not in a bad position to land Bennett. Sure, they will probably lose to Alabama the day before his announced commitment, but there’s no shame in that, and they should still be in a better spot than South Carolina. It all probably comes down to LSU.