Notes and observations from the offensive side of the ball at Thursday’s full-padded practice at Haslam Field:
Depth chart notes: There were many depth chart variations on Thursday afternoon, but here’s a look at how the offense lined up a majority of the time during the open period.
1st
Line (L to R): Jacob Gilliam, Marcus Jackson, Mack Crowder, Kyler Kerbyson, Coleman Thomas
TE: Ethan Wolf/Daniel Helm split reps
WR: Marquez North, Von Pearson, Pig Howard
RB: Marlin Lane
QB: Justin Worley
2nd
Line (L to R): Dontavius Blair, Marques Pair/Thomas Edwards, Ray Raulerson, Jashon Robertson, Brett Kendrick
TE: Brendan Downs/Alex Ellis split reps
WR: Jason Croom, Josh Smith, Johnathon Johnson
RB: Jalen Hurd
QB: Nathan Peterman/Joshua Dobbs
Devrin Young spent some time with the first team the second time they went through walkthrough. Brendan Downs spent some time with the first team as well. Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd got some work on the field together. Young and Hurd also had reps together. At various point in practice we saw Vic Wharton get work with both the 1s and 2s. It continues to look like the coaches want to get him on the field this year.
Live action: We saw a lot of 11-on-11 situational action Thursday. The scenario was this: the offense started at its own 40, down two points with 1:02 remaining and one timeout left. Here’s what we saw.
First team, Justin Worley at QB:
– Jacob Gilliam got beat to the inside by Curt Maggitt, forced a rushed throw and an incompletion by Worley
– Pig Howard got open on a comeback route, but dropped a low-thrown ball
– Short pass to Marlin Lane for a minimal gain
– (4th down and long) Overthrown ball intended for Von Pearson
Defense wins the possession
Second team, Joshua Dobbs at QB
– Had Devrin Young open on a screen play with some space, but Young dropped the pass
– Short completion to Josh Smith
– Overthrew Smith
– (4th down and medium) Malik Foreman came on a corner blitz and batted the pass down
Defense wins the possession
First team, Worley at QB
– Complete to Howard for a medium gain
– Out route to Marquez North for a first down
– Spike
– Bad underthrow intended for North is intercepted by Emmanuel Moseley
Defense wins the possession
Second team, Nathan Peterman at QB
– Out route complete to Josh Smith for about 8 yards
– Short out route complete to Ryan Jenkins
– 15-yard completion to Smith, who made a nice grab to move into FG range
– Consecutive short runs by Jalen Hurd to set up the game-winning FG attempt
– Aaron Medley, with horns and crying baby noises going off, drills a 31-yard game-winning FG
Offense wins the possession
7-on-7 action: Some of what we saw in the live 7-on-7 drill, where each unit got several throws in the red zone
1st team, Worley
– Hit North for a TD strike on a post route
– North dropped a catchable ball on a comeback route
– Overthrew Wharton in the end zone
– Overthrew Howard in the end zone
2nd team, Peterman
– Hit Wharton for a touchdown on a post
– Hit Croom, who did a good job getting his foot down in the end zone for a TD
– Hit Smith for a TD
3rd team, Dobbs
– Hit tight end Daniel Helm in the flat and Helm ran it in for a TD
– Hit Wharton, who made a tough catch in traffic
– Hit Malone in the corner of the end zone for a TD
More passing game troubles: Though the second and third team offenses had some success in live action, it was another rough day in passing drills on air. Butch Jones implored his team to stop putting balls on the ground during these drills, but that didn’t happen. The QBs, again, had several bad overthrows and when the throws were catchable, they didn’t get much help from the pass catchers. Josh Malone got sent to The Hole at one point for only using one hand to try to catch a pass. Tight ends A.J. Branisel and Joe Stocstill both had very bad drops in one drill. At one point, the tights end dropped three out of four passes, all of which hit them in the hands. Jones also chided Von Pearson, looking for consistency. He used his regular McDonald’s analogy – telling Pearson he wanted consistency, like when he goes to McDonald’s, orders a No. 1 combo meal and knows what he’ll get.
Injury notes: WRs Pig Howard and Drae Bowles both went through drills in a green, non-contact jersey. OL Austin Sanders, RB Derrell Scott and OL Dylan Wiesman were among the players sitting out of drills.
Miscellaneous:
• The Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and the Tennessee Titans all had representatives at practice
• The crying baby returned. Jones likes to use annoying sounds during practice to test the players’ focus and one them is the sound of a crying baby. He had that noise going during a field-goal attempt and during the 7-on-7 drill.
Here is the link to today’s Defensive Notes and Observations.
Editor’s note: Any depth chart notes should be considered unofficial and often change from practice to practice. Per UT policy, we do not report specifics on any formations or schemes.
