Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel sounded hopeful that veteran center Cooper Mays will be ready to go for this Saturday night’s important SEC East clash between No. 21 Tennessee and South Carolina in Knoxville.
The starting center has not seen any game time through the first four games this season after undergoing a procedure during training camp in August. While Tennessee has been optimistic about Mays’ return to the game field over that span of time, the senior center has yet to make his season debut.
Heupel was asked about the status of Cooper Mays during his routine Thursday morning game-week press conference.
“Practiced really well,” Heupel said about Mays. “Like those other guys that I talked about, we will ensure that through tomorrow and then game day that they are ready to go compete at the level that you need to in this one. South Carolina is big, strong, physical, explosive up front. Hopefully we will have him locked and loaded and ready to roll.”
With Mays out of action through the first third of the season, Tennessee redshirt senior Ollie Lane has assumed the role of starting center. The Vols have started the same offensive line all four games this season with John Campbell Jr. at left tackle, Andrej Karic at left guard, Ollie Lane at center, Javontez Spraggins at right guard, and J.J. Crawford at right tackle.
More from RTI: Vols Host South Carolina in Pivotal Early SEC East Contest
While this next quote from Heupel was said prior to the Florida game, the overall point still rings true as the veteran center is waiting to see the field for the first time during his senior year:
“Conditioning is one thing but even before he was back on the grass with us there was a lot of things he was doing with our strength staff,” Heupel said of Mays prior to the Florida game. “The flow of the game will dictate a little bit (of how much he plays), how he’s feeling out there. That type of thing.”
Bringing Mays back into the fold would be a huge addition to the Vols’ offense line. Mays is a strong lineman up front first and foremost, while then adding in his communication skills, his ability to run the up-tempo offense, his experience against SEC competition, and more.
Mays was active but did not play in last Saturday’s win over UT-San Antonio in Knoxville.
While nothing is confirmed regarding this Saturday’s game, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel does sound optimistic that Cooper Mays could make his season debut this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET when the Volunteers host the South Carolina Gamecocks in Neyland Stadium.
