Tennessee travels to Fayetteville on Saturday night looking to beat Arkansas in order to snap a three-game losing streak. Kickoff between the Vols (2-3) and Razorbacks (2-3) is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
Both teams are feeling good despite coming off of a loss in their previous game because they’re as healthy as they’ve been in quite some time. Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt mentioned on Wednesday that his team seems to be pretty healthy right now, while Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman also said his team is “pretty healthy right now” this week.
Here’s a look at the injury report for this weekend’s matchup between the Vols and Razorbacks:
Updated at 12:30 p.m. ET on Saturday
Tennessee’s injuries:
- Alontae Taylor, Jr. (OUT)
- It appears Tennessee will be without one of its starting cornerbacks against the Hogs. On Saturday morning, Taylor quote-tweeted a Tennessee football tweet about the Arkansas game saying, ‘Know I’m watching! Let’s get it!” Taylor has been dealing with a hamstring injury for much of the season and it appears it’ll cost him another game. He did not play against Kentucky.
- Jeremy Banks, R-So. (Probable)
- “Jeremy really had an ugly injury unfortunately early on in the Kentucky game,” Jeremy Pruitt said on Wednesday. “Hopefully, he’ll be ready to play this week. We kept him out of practice last week. He’s practiced for two days and today he was pretty sore from it. It’s just one of those high ankle sprains that takes a little while to get over it, but he’s a tough guy and I think he’ll be ready to play some snaps on Saturday.”
- OL Jerome Carvin, Jr. (Probable)
- Carvin has been battling turf toe for a while now. Tennessee held him out of practice during the bye week as a precaution, but he’s been practicing this week and Pruitt said on Wednesday that “it’s the healthiest he’s looked since the Missouri game, so that’s a promising sign for him for the next couple of weeks.”
- RG Riley Locklear (OUT)
- Locklear is the one offensive lineman that definitely won’t play against Alabama. He had surgery on Friday and could potentially miss the remainder of the season.
- TE Austin Pope, Sr. (OUT)
- Pope had offseason back surgery over the summer. Though he was ahead of schedule and on track to be ready for the season opener, Pope had a setback and will “probably” not play this season according to Jeremy Pruitt.
- DB Baylen Buchannan, Sr. (OUT)
- Buchannan is not playing this season due to a “narrowing of the spine” that also cost him his 2019 season.
Tennessee opt outs:
- WR Deangelo Gibbs
Arkansas’ injuries:
- Dorian Gerald, (Probable)
- Gerald had been out with an ankle injury since the season-opening loss to Georgia. He was back in action against Texas A&M this past weekend, though he didn’t start. Gerald isn’t 100 percent, but he earned valuable reps in the second quarter against the Aggies and will play against the Volunteers on Saturday.
Arkansas opt outs:
- DB Jerry Jacobs, Grad transfer from Arkansas State
- A starter in the secondary the past two seasons at Arkansas State, Jacobs made an immediate impact with Razorbacks and was a key player. Jacobs had registered 17 tackles through four games.
- DB Jarques McClellion, R-Jr.
- McClellion cited multiple quarantines and family health concerns as reasons for his decision.
- WR Shamar Nash, R-Fr.
- OL Chibueze Nwanna, R-Sr.
