Josh Heupel delves into running back assessments, compliments growth

The Tennessee Volunteers and head coach Josh Heupel have just wrapped up another spring football campaign. As the Volunteers look to build on their momentum from last season’s 7-6 campaign, the team is looking for more impact out of its backfield. And as they wrapped up their spring scrimmage on Saturday, Heupel gave his assessment on the running backs, complimenting growth.

“Yeah, more opportunities for young guys in your program. Len’Neth (Whitehead), healthy offseason, it’s shown it in what he’s done, and his body. He’s continuing to get a ton more reps. I think he’s making a lot of strides as far as running back. In pass protection, in you know understanding schemes. How to deliver blocks and playing better with pat under pat on the back end of it. (Justin Williams), I thought had his best day today without watching the video. Just in the speed tempo and urgency that he played in. I liked a lot of what thought today,” said Heupel.

Last season as a redshirt freshman, Whitehead impressed after making his way back from a season-ending injury from last season. He finished the year with 207 yards on 32 rushing attempts for two touchdowns and averaged a whopping 6.5 yards per carry.

Williams is one of the top signees from the 2022 recruiting class made by the Volunteers. According to On3’s recruiting database, he was the No. 17-ranked player to come out of the state of Georgia. Tennessee might have stumbled on their one-two punch at the running back position with these two in the backfield. But for now, we will have to wait and see if they can carry on the momentum from spring to next season.

Heupel addresses Tennessee’s improvement on defense through the spring

The Tennessee Volunteers had a great season offensively last season, with the team finishing as one of the best offensive units in the SEC. Defensively though, Tennessee wasn’t at the level it wanted to be at. After Tennessee’s spring scrimmage, head coach Josh Heupel praised the Volunteers defense for their work throughout the spring, saying that they played very well in the spring game.

“Some huge plays on the back end of the scrimmage,” Heupel said of Tennessee’s defense. “I love the competitive nature and makeup. Offensively, had a couple drives early in the scrimmage. Defense is able to rest, find energy, find momentum, continue to make plays. You want back-and-forth, and I love the way the defense finished off the scrimmage today.”

Tennessee’s offense finished third in the SEC with 474.9 offensive yards per game last season, finishing second with 39.3 points per game. The Volunteers were also top four in both rushing and passing yards per game in the conference.

On defense, Tennessee was on the opposite side of the leaderboard. The Volunteers allowed 404.6 yards per game, the fourth-worst total in the SEC. They finished third-worst with 27.5 points allowed per game, and the passing defense struggled and allowed the SEC’s second-worst total with 251.4 yards per game.