Early on in the loss to No. 1 Texas, hearts dropped all over Knoxville when left guard Wendell Moe Jr. went down with what looked to be a serious ankle injury. We now know that said ankle injury is going to cost him the rest of the season, with Pete Nakos dropping the bomb before the initial injury report for Tennessee-Auburn dropped. While that's bad news for Josh Heupel, it's terrible for Glen Elarbee.
The Vols offensive line coach has been under fire in recent days due to his unit giving up 10 sacks to the Longhorns in the loss. It was totally unacceptable, and the loss of Moe put a magnifying glass on just how important he is to this group. Moving forward, some shuffling needs to be done, and Elarbee has to make sure the right calls are made.
NEW: Tennessee starting LG Wendell Moe is expected to miss the remainder of the 2026 season, @PeteNakos reports. https://t.co/DofqEMpFl0 pic.twitter.com/VsJTX8Ftgg
— On3 (@On3) September 30, 2026
Predicting Tennessee's new starting offensive line with Wendell Moe Jr. out for the year
With Moe now not being able to be counted on, Elarbee could just stick with the rotation he had for the majority of the game vs. Texas. Once Moe went down, Sham Umarov made the switch from right guard to left guard, while backup Donovan Haslam took the field to take over at right guard. Haslam is a West Virginia transfer, and his experience alone (6-3, 350-pound senior) could help out UT in a major way.
Despite that, we'd be remiss not to bring up the 10 sacks that were given up again. Tennessee's line without Moe looked downright atrocious, with Colin Simmons and others having a field day. With Auburn up next, the last thing Faizon Brandon needs is to be running for his life again, especially with the Vols needing a win to keep their slim College Football Playoff chances alive.
And in order for the offensive line to gel, Elarbee needs to bring his hard hat to work for every single practice and make sure that a 180 is posted. For now, the projected offensive line from left to right will be David Sanders Jr., Haslam, Sam Pendleton, Umarov, and Jesse Perry. On paper, that's a stout group, but the disappointment from the loss to the Longhorns remains.
Elarbee simply has to be considered to be on thin ice moving forward, as fans have grown tired of his offensive linemen getting their lunch money taken away from them in big games. The non-conference schedule was one thing, but the effort against Texas raised plenty of eyebrows, but not in a good way at all.
This Week 4 dance with Auburn is going to tell us a lot about Elarbee and his hosses moving forward. Anything close to what we saw against Texas will not be tolerated - and if that does happen, even more people will be calling for Elarbee to be shown the door before the end of the campaign. Games are won in the trenches, and Elarbee is the one who has to answer the call when things go south. Unfortunately for him, Moe's injury is only going to make things more difficult for him this fall.
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