Over the past few seasons, the tight end spot has really become a bigger point of emphasis for the Tennessee offense. In Josh Heupel’s evolution, 12 personnel has become a go-to as he slowly has eased out of using so much tempo and focused on more of a power approach. That obviously throws the tight ends into the spotlight in both the run and passing game.
It’s a big reason why Heupel has spent time building out the depth in that room, and that depth is already being put to the test. Senior tight
end Ethan Davis went down two weeks ago against Georgia Tech, suffering a torn ACL. With Davis out for the season, Tennessee will lean on some different faces at the spot.
“I mean, obviously, (Ethan Davis) is a special player, so I’m not gonna sit here and say it doesn’t change us a little bit,” Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln said on Tuesday. “But do have a lot of confidence in the guys in the room. I mean, every time Trent Thomas has touched the ball, he’s made somebody miss or broken a tackle. I think we all know what can Dasaahn can do. And same with Luca.”
Each of those three will see time as we saw last week against Kennesaw State. How much of an impact will they make in the passing game? We’ll see, but you probably shouldn’t expect too much. The key here will be how they perform in the run blocking scheme, which is vital to the Tennessee offense.
Their first real test without Davis comes against one of the best defensive fronts in the league this Saturday.
“I think there’s no question in this league, every week you’re gonna see fronts that have really good players, play with technique, play with physicality,” Abeln said. “I think our unit is no different, though. It’ll be about the details, it’ll be about their first steps, it’ll be about their hand placement. That’s really where the difference comes as you play good people. And excited about the steps we’ve taken, excited to see them take another step on Saturday.”
Texas held Ohio State to just 94 yards rushing on 31 carries (3.0 yards per carry). Brame and Thomas specifically, operating quite a bit now out of up-back spots, will play a big role in making sure the Volunteers can consistently run the ball on Saturday.
Abeln is also looking at pass protection as a big key going into the weekend.
“That’s the biggest area for me that we gotta get fixed and get it fixed quick,” Abeln said of protection. “And it’s not big things, it’s not inability to, it’s little details, it’s little angles, it’s little hand placements. To me, that’s really where you talk about trust and being able to play. There’s nothing that you need trust more than in protection, and I think certainly I will be picky on just exactly how that’s supposed to look, and there’s never really good enough in protection for me. But understanding that’s a huge area for us to fix that.”
Tennessee gave up one sack to Kennesaw State last week, but they’ll face a potential top five pick in Colin Simmons this Saturday. Simmons has gotten home twice this season for the Longhorns, and despite an injury in last week’s game, should be good to go for this one.
Tennessee and Texas are set for a noon ET kickoff on Saturday. ABC will have the call.
