Josh Heupel confirms Rickey Gibson will be good to go vs. NC State after missing Week 1

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel confirmed cornerback Rickey Gibson will be back for NC State in Week 2 after missing the season opener.

Heupel said Gibson, among others, was held out but could’ve played. He was able to warm up but the head coach said he was not needed in the 69-3 win.

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But it sounds like Gibson is good to go this coming weekend.

“Yeah, we held a couple of guys on game day,” Heupel said. “You might have seen him warm up. End of the day, he’ll be ready to roll this week. I just felt for our football team. and you know, the longevity of all of it, there are a couple guys that we held out that could have played in that one, but we’ll hold them for this week.”

In his first season (2023), Gibson played 13 games and finished with nine total tackles, six solo tackles and one tackle for loss. He also had a pass deflection.

As a member of the Class of 2023, Gibson was a four-star recruit out of Trussville (Ala.) Hewitt, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 19 overall prospect in the state, the No. 35 cornerback in the class and the No. 321 overall prospect in the class.

Rickey Gibson good to go for NC State

Tennessee will have Gibson at its disposal on defense against the Wolfpack, as Heupel said. Despite a blowout win, Heupel is ready for the next game.

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“Good start this past weekend,” Heupel said Monday. “Appreciate our fans. They did an awesome job. Players were in this morning and got an opportunity to learn from the film and got a big football game this week. Really good opponent that we’re playing. They play all three phases of the game really well together. Defensively, they’ve been really good and it will be a great test for us up front and on the perimeter and at quarterback. 

“Offensively, they’ve got a really experienced quarterback, got playmakers around him and the special teams are really good too. So a huge test for us this week. One that we’re excited about. Traveling a few hours down the road, look forward to seeing Vol Nation show up and it will be a great contest.”