Tennessee Football's depth chart for Saturday night's game at Arkansas
Tennessee Football on Monday released its official depth chart for Saturday night’s game at Arkansas, scheduled for a 7:30 Eastern Time start on ABC. Here’s how the Vols will line up against the Razorbacks:
Quarterback
| Starter | Nico Iamaleava |
| Backup | Gaston Moore |
| Backup | Jake Merklinger |
Nico Iamaleava is 61-for-88 (.693) for 892 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. He has rushed 25 times for 117 yards and has one rushing touchdown. Iamaleava is averaging 223.0 passing yards per game and has a quarterback rating of 176.17.
Gaston Moore has appeared in three games in mop-up duty, completing 11 of 16 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Jake Merklinger is 6-for-9 for 48 yards and has rushed seven times for 30 yards.
Running Back
| Starter | Dylan Sampson |
| Backup | Cam Seldon |
| -or- DeSean Bishop | |
| -or- Khalifa Keith | |
| -or- Peyton Lewis |
Dylan Sampson has rushed 69 times for 449 yards and 10 touchdowns, the second most in college football this season. DeSean Bishop has developed into the second option at running back, rushing 38 times for 287 yards and three touchdowns. Peyton Lewis has 17 carries for 118 yards and Cam Seldon has seven rushed for 47 yards in two games.
Wide Receivers
| Starter | Dont’e Thornton -or- Chris Brazzell II |
| Backup | Nathan Leacock |
| Starter | Bru McCoy -or- Kaleb Webb |
| Backup | Mike Matthews |
| Starter | Squirrel White -or- Chas Nimrod |
| Backup | Braylon Staley |
Dont’e Thornton leads Tennessee in receiving yards and touchdowns, catching seven passes for 242 yards and three touchdowns. Bru McCoy has a team-high 12 receptions for 200 yards and Chris Brazzell II has 11 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown.
Tight Ends
| Starter | Ethan Davis |
| -or- Miles Kitselman | |
| -or- Holden Staes |
Holden Staes has six catches for 55 yards and a touchdown at tight end and Miles Kitselman has four catches for 54 yards and two touchdowns. Ethan Davis has five catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Offensive Line
| Left Tackle | Lance Heard -or- Larry Johnson III |
| Left Guard | Andrej Karic -or- Jackson Lampley |
| Center | Cooper Mays |
| Backup | William Satterwhite -or- Vysen Lang |
| Right Guard | Javontez Spraggins |
| Backup | Shamurad Umarov |
| Right Tackle | John Campbell -or- Dayne Davis |
Tennessee’s regular starters on the offensive line are Cooper Mays at center, Andrej Karic at left guard, Javontez Spraggins at right guard, Lance Heard at left tackle and John Campbell at right tackle. Heard has missed the last two games with an ankle issue and Campbell left the Oklahoma game early. Dayne Davis started at left tackle in place of Heard at Oklahoma and Larry Johnson replaced Campbell at right tackle.
Top 10
- 1
Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss HC calls out CFP committee
- 2Breaking
Bear Alexander commits
Former Georgia, USC defensive lineman makes the call
- 3Hot
Nick Saban
Fed up, calling for change
- 4
Shane Gillis
Comedian trolls Nick Saban, SEC
- 5Trending
Desmond Howard
CGD host calls out Ryan Day
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Defensive Line
| Starter | Bryson Eason |
| -or- Omarr Norman-Lott | |
| -or- Daevin Hobbs | |
| Starter | Omari Thomas |
| -or- Elijah Simmons | |
| -or- Jaxson Moi |
Defensive End
| Starter | Dominic Bailey |
| -or- Tyre West | |
| -or- Jayson Jenkins | |
| -or- Tyree Weathersby |
LEO
| Starter | James Pearce Jr. |
| -or- Joshua Josephs | |
| -or- Caleb Herring | |
| -or- Jordan Ross |
Weakside Linebacker
| Starter | Arion Carter -or- Kalib Perry |
| Backup | Jalen Smith |
Middle Linebacker
| Starter | Keenan Pili -or- Jeremiah Telander |
| Backup | Edwin Spillman |
Cornerback
| Starter | Jermod McCoy -or- Jordan Matthews |
| Backup | Wiliam Wright |
| Starter | Rickey Gibson II -or- Jalen McMurray |
| Backup | Kaleb Beasley |
Safety
| Starter | Will Brooks -or- Christian Charles |
| Backup | Edrees Farooq |
| Starter | Andre Turrentine -or- Jakobe Thomas |
| Backup | John Slaughter |
Star
| Starter | Christian Harrison |
| -or- Boo Carter |
Sophomore linebacker Arion Carter leads Tennessee’s defense with 15.0 tackles, with five solo and 10 assisted. Keenan Pili has 14.0 tackles, Will Brooks has 13.0, Jakobe Thomashas 11.0 and Edrees Farooq has 10.0.
Tyre West leads the team with 3.5 tackles for loss, ahead of Carter, Joshua Josephs and Jaxson Moi, who all have 2.5. West also leads the team in sacks with 2.0. Moi, Thomas and Dominic Bailey have one sack each while Jayson Jenkins and James Pearce Jr. both have half of a sack.
Pearce leads the Vols with five quarterback hits and Josephs has a pair of fumble recoveries and forced fumbles. McCoy and Brooks both have interceptions and McCoy leads the team with three passes broken up, while Brooks, Carter, Omari Thomas, Andre Turrentine and Jordan Matthews have two pass breakups each.
Special Teams
| Placekicker | Max Gilbert |
| Backup | Josh Turbyville |
| Punter | Jackson Ross |
| Backup | Josh Turbyville |
| Kickoff | Josh Turbyville |
| Backup | Max Gilbert |
| Longsnapper | Matthew Salansky |
| Backup | Bennett Brady |
| Holder | Jackson Ross |
| Kick Returner | Cameron Seldon -or- DeSean Bishop |
| Punt Returner | Squirrel White |
| -or- Jermod McCoy | |
| -or- Boo Carter |
Max Gilbert is 10-for-11 on field goals with a long of 45. He missed a 53-yard attempt late against NC State. Jackson Ross has punted 10 times for 453 yards with one touch back, two fair catches, three downed inside the 20 and three that went 50 or more yards.
Squirrel White has returned seven punts for a total of 112 yards, averaging 16.0 yards per return. Jermod McCoy has fielded one punt and Boo Carter has caught two. Cameron Seldon returned the opening kickoff 35 yards against Chattanooga. Mike Matthews has also returned a kick 32 yards.
