Tennessee football getting healthy at just the right time with Cedric Tillman back

Probably the biggest miracle Josh Heupel pulled of this year with Tennessee football was being able to withstand a slew of injuries and ill-timed incidents that kept players off the field. If you said at the beginning of the year all they would lose, 7-0 would seem impossible.

He pulled it off, though, and now, things are looking extremely scary. Some of the key players the Vols have managed to get by without are now coming back, and it’s just in time for a stretch run as they make a push for the College Football Playoff at No. 3 in the nation with three ranked teams among their final five opponents.

Most notably among those returning is go-to receiver Cedric Tillman, who has been out since Week 3 against the Akron Zips. Tillman himself announced Tennessee football would have him back on Friday with an NIL promo on Instagram.

The Vols beat the Florida Gators, LSU Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide without him while Hendon Hooker turned into a Heisman candidate and Jalin Hyatt became a superstar. Imagine how elite they can be with Tillman back to complement Hyatt on the outside.

On defense, safety Jaylen McCollough has been out since the Alabama game due to an off-the-field issue. However, Chris Low of ESPN reports that he has been cleared to play by the university and the athletic department. Although Heupel has been mum on both players, it’s clear they are ready to go Saturday.

A huge reason for the Vols’ issues in the secondary specifically has been injuries and absences. That was already their weakest area going into the season, and then they lost No. 1 cornerback Warren Burrell for the season Week 2 at the Pittsburgh Panthers.

In addition to Burrell and McCollough, No. 2 cornerback Kamal Hadden was out against Alabama, and No. 3 cornerback Christian Charles got hurt in that game. Although Burrell won’t be back, Hadden and Charles should be fully healthy now, and Brandon Turnage has emerged. That combined with McCollough is a huge boost.

Again, the secondary is never going to be great, but opposing teams need them to be awful to have a chance to win. Now, they have moved into the mediocre range with everybody they have gotten back, and quite honestly, that’s a scary thought.

Another underrated injury they have navigated is on the line. Left tackle Gerald Mincey missed the LSU Tigers due to an injury and was banged up against Alabama. He should be 100 percent now, so Hooker has his go-to target and his most crucial pass protecter back to fuel an already running Heisman campaign. This is scary.

If you go back and look at the situation the Vols were in 20 months ago, this would seem impossible. Sure, they may have gotten to a point where they could make some real noise in Heupel’s second year, but they would not have been at the point where they could sustain losses to key weapons.

In fact, these losses should’ve been the difference between being a top 25 team and having a losing record, not irrelevant to them becoming a College Football Playoff contender. Honestly, you can’t overstate how impressive of a job Heupel did with all of that.

Going forward, though, November will test Tennessee football’s depth. It’s about to get colder, and they still have Kentucky, the Georgia Bulldogs and South Carolina, the latter, two on the road. As a result, they are getting healthy at just the right time, and that’s a huge deal.