Tennessee starting left tackle Lance Heard will be out for the Vols’ SEC opener against Oklahoma on Saturday night, ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported on Friday night and Tennessee confirmed with its availability report.
The SEC’s Friday night availability report releases at 8:30 p.m. ET. We will have coverage of what that report says and whether Heard is listed as out. Tennessee listed its starting left tackle as “questionable” on the first two availability reports this week.
The Vols the highly touted LSU offensive tackle transfer this season to help replace Gerald Mincey after the two-year starter entered the transfer portal and ended up at Kentucky.
Heard started Tennessee’s first two games of the season against Chattanooga and NC State before missing last week’s game against Kent State. Following the lopsided win over Kent State, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel implied that Heard would have been able to play if it was a more competitive opponent.
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With Heard out, super senior Dayne Davis will start at left tackle for the Vols. Davis has played an abundance of football as a versatile offensive lineman for Tennessee so far this season.
Tennessee has been fortunate with its injury luck early this season but the Vols are more thin at offensive line than any other position on the roster. On the opposite side from Davis, John Campbell Jr. will start at right tackle while Larry Johnson could also see playing time.
Oklahoma’s defense is its strength of its team and the strength of that defense every well could be its defensive ends. The duo of R Mason Thomas and Gracen Halton have combined for 5.5 sacks through just three games this season. It’ll be a serious challenge for Davis and the rest of Tennessee’s offensive line against a stout Oklahoma front.
Kickoff at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday night. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
