With North Carolina State just a few days away, the Tennessee Volunteers continued preparing for their Friday night showdown with N.C. State during its Tuesday morning practice.
Despite Da’Rick Rogers transferring to Tennessee Tech, the wide receiver core continued preparing itself for its non-conference opener.
The transfer hasn’t caused urgency in the players; instead, Vols offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said it can only benefit the players if they step up.
“There are a lot of opportunities out there,” Chaney said. “Those kids understand that if you’re going to earn the right to get (the job), you’ve got to demonstrate out here on the practice field. They’re out there doing a good job.”
One of those “kids” is returning receiver Justin Hunter, who suffered a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee, and who has shown UT’s offensive coordinator that he’s hyped for Friday.
“He’s thrilled to death,” Chaney said. “He’s like a kid in a candy store.”
Hunter will be going up against one of last season’s best secondaries and, after watching N.C. State game film, wide receivers coach Darin Hinshaw is well aware of what his receiving unit will be up against.
“They’re very good,” Hinshaw said. “They’re a very good secondary. Obviously they have a lot of snaps. (They’ve) played a lot of games together. You can just watch them on film and understand they know they’re doing really well. They know their coverages really well and they know where they’ve got to be to make plays.”
The Wolfpack secondary is led by national interception leader David Amerson, who picked off 13 of N.C. State’s 27 interceptions. It’s possible the Vols may use six receivers “depending on the situations of the game.”
UT’s running backs coach Jay Graham knows about the Georgia Dome atmosphere both as a player and coach, and has tried to help starting tailback Rajion Neal and the other running backs focus.
“Calm down and think about every play and what you’re supposed to do,” Graham said. The former Vols running back thinks because of the matchup, it won’t be just Rajion Neal seeing time on the field.
“I think all three guys will play, but you never know how that situation’s going to go. Depends on how many plays, how much success we have, how many plays we have on offense.”
The offensive rushing attack will be looking for a little more success than it did last season when it averaged 90.1 yards per game and ran in 11 touchdowns. When asked if the running backs were involved, if any, in the passing game, Graham said, “it remains to be seen.”
It also remains to be seen if the Vols can shake off its bad luck, not just against N.C. State’s conference, but with the venue itself, heading into Atlanta on Friday. Not only has Tennessee not won a game in the Georgia Dome since 1997, but the Orange and White hasn’t had a victory over an ACC opponent since they beat Duke 23-6 in 2003.
