KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin is getting a little creative in an effort to keep his Volunteers offense balanced.
Injuries have left the wide receiver corps depleted for the Vols' Sept. 5 opener against Western Kentucky. That means not only relying more on the freshmen wide receivers but also trying some things with the tailbacks and tight ends.
``With the numbers down we've got to find other ways to get the ball outside,'' Kiffin said.
The Vols' tailbacks have run well consistently throughout fall camp, but the coach is expecting them to catch a little too. Freshman David Oku has spent some time not only rushing and catching passes but also throwing a few balls.
``He's really good,'' Kiffin said. ``He can play receiver. He can play running back. He can play quarterback. He's a great athlete. Really, things come very easy to him.''
The coach said Oku, a Midwest City, Okla., native, is a natural when it comes to picking up plays immediately after learning them something that's especially important with just more than a week to go before the first game.
The Vols' most experienced receivers are out at least for a few weeks. Junior Gerald Jones was the most recent to go down with a high ankle sprain that could keep him out of action for three to six weeks.
Junior Denarius Moore has been recovering from foot surgery and is expected to be sidelined at least until Tennessee faces Florida on Sept. 19, and senior Austin Rogers is out for the season after tearing a knee ligament.
Kiffin ``made a deal with the defense'' to move freshman safety Rod Wilks to receiver to help bolster the group's numbers, but he's looking to the rest of the freshman receivers to carry a heavier load.
That means Nu'Keese Richardson, Marsalis Teague and Zach Rogers can't use their use as an excuse to make mistakes.
``That's not going to help us on Saturday,'' Kiffin said. ``Nobody's going to be happy when they leave the stands because they're freshmen and they're not playing well. So we've just been continuing to focus exactly what they have to do and put them in specific positions.''
Senior tight end Luke Stocker knows it's not just the young wide receivers and tailbacks that need to help out.
``The receivers are even more thin now, so that means they're going to lean on the tight ends as another crutch,'' he said. ``So we need to be there to make plays.''
Kiffin named senior Jonathan Crompton as the starting quarterback on Monday, and Crompton has been staying late after practices this week to work with receivers.
Tennessee is also awaiting word on whether freshman tailback Bryce Brown will be suspended for a few games. The NCAA is investigating Brown's eligibility and whether money was improperly raised for him to visit colleges during his sophomore year of high school.
``I've been told nothing about it at all. That's a wild card there,'' Kiffin said. ``David (Oku) still continues to perform well, so he would take some of those plays for him.''
Monday
October 28th, 2024
6:23PM
