Tennessee cornerback Doneiko Slaughter was dressed out but did not play in the Vols’ SEC opening loss at Florida last week. But the Vols appear poised to get their starting cornerback back ahead of their non conference matchup against UTSA.
“He should be available for this football game,” Heupel said.
Slaughter started at corner for each of Tennessee’s first two games opposite of Kamal Hadden though Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Warren Burrell have also earned an abundance of snaps at backups.
With Slaughter sidelined last week, freshman Rickey Gibson III also earned snaps off the bench.
More From RTI: Josh Heupel Updates The Status Of A Pair Of Offensive Linemen
Slaughter’s absence was felt against Florida. While he hasn’t definitively been the Vols’ best corner he has been their most physical corner which shows up in the run game. Tennessee’s secondary was missing quality tacklers against Florida as the Vols missed an abundance of tackles.
Tennessee is looking to bounce back from its poor performance against Florida as it host American Athletic Conference foe Texas-San Antonio.
The Vols are three-touchdown favorites over the Road Runners while UTSA starting quarterback Frank Harris is questionable due to injury.
Kickoff between Tennessee and UTSA is at 4 p.m. ET. Dave Neal, Derek Mason and Taylor Davis are on the call for the SEC Network.
