A curveball.
Tennessee already had a problem at wide receiver, now they’ve got injuries on top of everything else. Bru McCoy was seen in some sort of cast or at least a heavy wrap on Saturday night, while Squirrel White left the sideline in a sling.
Josh Heupel didn’t have an update following the game on Saturday, but he did give us this on Monday.
“None of the injuries are longterm, season-ending injuries,” Heupel told the media on Monday. “As we go through the week, we’ll find out exactly where everybody is at.”
The Tennessee passing game has struggled in a large way after getting off to such a hot start. It hasn’t just been on the receivers, it’s been a combination of a lack of protection up front and let’s face it — some growing pains from Nico Iamaleava. All of those things work together, and it produced an ugly result against the Razorbacks that netted just 14 points.
Now the job gets even harder, likely without McCoy and Squirrel in the lineup for at least a small amount of time. Those two clearly have the most experience of anyone on the depth chart, but Tennessee does at least have plenty of depth at the position. The problem is, none of these guys have ever been ‘the guy’ in this passing game, though several have the upside to become that.
Should either be out for any amount of time, Tennessee will turn to Dont’e Thornton first and foremost, who has been the top downfield target for Nico Iamaleava all season. Kelsey Pope will need Tulane transfer Chris Brazzell to step up in a big way after a slow start to the season. Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb have plenty of experience to feel comfortable with at this point, while a guy like five-star freshman Mike Matthews could provide a real spark.
Heupel and Joey Halzle have also given us plenty of two tight end looks to start the year, and those are now only likely to increase with this scenario.
Tennessee will pick up the pieces and shuffle around all of this personnel at receiver for the first time against Florida, who will make the trip to Knoxville on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.