Game week has arrived, meaning Josh Heupel’s weekly media availability has returned. Heupel hit the podium on Monday afternoon, talking about his team ahead of Saturday’s opener against Furman. The most notable thing from Monday was that Tennessee didn’t release an official depth chart, instead choosing to hold that until Saturday.
Heupel has released a depth chart in previous years on the Monday before the game, but for a second straight season, he’ll hold till gameday. Not that a depth chart would
reveal anything to us — the spots are largely set. The only real mystery that remains is on the right side of the offensive line and who “starts” as the third receiver. Both of those situations will be largely rotated against Furman.
As far as newsworthy items, Heupel said tight end Ethan Davis is ready to go for the opener after missing much of training camp with an injury.
“Yeah, he’ll be available on Saturday,” Heupel said of Davis. “He ramped up this past week and he looks really good.”
Heupel was also asked if he would play two quarterbacks on Saturday, to which he said “You’ll find out on Saturday.” Unless things go terribly wrong, or perhaps even if they do, both quarterbacks are going to see significant reps in this one. Remember, Tennessee lost a cupcake game this season with the league moving to a nine-game schedule, so he’ll undoubtedly want to get George MacIntyre plenty of run on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking of MacIntyre, Heupel described how he handled the news of losing the starting quarterback battle.
“Disappointed at first, if they’re not that, then we got a real problem,” Heupel said. “But he’s been great on the practice field, great energy. He’s in here today with everybody. He’s continuing to grow and work and compete. He understands he’s gonna get an opportunity at some point, and gotta be prepared when the opportunity comes.”
Finally, Heupel gave a brief couple of lines about Furman, which has already played a game. It was a 20-3 win over Anderson University, giving Tennessee a scouting report of the new roster.
“It gives you the ability to understand where they’re applying people in all three phases of the game,” Heupel said of Furman’s first game. “Defensively, they returned a bunch on their front, have a really good edge player. He’s preseason player of the year in their conference. Ultimately, every week is this, but it’s about us and our preparation and continuing to grow and then go play our best ball on Saturday.”
Tennessee and Furman are set for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network+ (ESPN App).
