Tennessee is set to face a pair of former Vols this Saturday night in Fayetteville, AR.
Arkansas brought in two former Tennessee players this offseason with one player on each side of the ball: center Addison Nichols and defensive back Doneiko Slaughter.
Nichols was the first of the two to enter the portal but it was Slaughter who committed to Arkansas first.
Nichols redshirted his freshman season at Tennessee in 2022 with two appearances but saw more action in 2023 as a special teams player and rotational offensive lineman. Nichols decided to enter the portal on Dec. 4 and emerged with the Razorbacks on Dec. 19. The Georgia native played in 116 offensive snaps during his redshirt freshman season (2023) and ended the season with a 61.3 PFF grade.
Nichols transferred to Arkansas before the spring and worked his way into becoming the Razorbacks’ starting center in his first season with the program. The former Vol exited Arkansas’s Week 3 victory early with an injury but returned to his starting position against Auburn and Texas A&M the past two weeks.
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Tennessee will also be playing against former Vol cornerback Doneiko Slaughter this Saturday night. Slaughter announced his intention to enter the transfer portal on Dec. 8 after four years with the Vols’ program. Slaughter was a swiss-army-knife for Tennessee’s secondary but settled into a starting cornerback position with the Vols’ program starting in 2022.
Slaughter wasn’t in the portal for long as he emerged with the Razorbacks just one week later on Dec. 15.
The former Vol was brought into the Arkansas program before spring ball and, like Nichols, earned a starting spot with the Razorbacks before the season. Slaughter has started all five of Arkansas’s games at cornerback this season and has tallied 25 tackles, one sack, and one interception during his time on the field.
As a former starter with Tennessee, Slaughter has plenty of experience going up against Tennessee’s offensive starters from his time on the practice field.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Squirrel White said about feeling a bit of Deja Vu when he lines up against Slaughter. “Me and Neiko have been going at it since I got here in my freshman year. Now that he’s at Arkansas I feel like I’ll be comfortable going against him.”
Arkansas will host No. 4 Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night in Razorback Stadium.
