Tennessee loses two defensive starters to injuries vs. Syracuse
Tennessee Football’s defense is down two starters against Syracuse. The Vols lost both defensive lineman Jaxson Moi and cornerback Rickie Gibson III to apparent arm injuries in the first half of the Aflac Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Moi, according to The Vol Network Radio broadcast, was having his left elbow wrapped in the injury tent on the sideline. He tested the left arm after leaving the tent, but no longer has his helmet on the sideline.
Gibson left the game in the second quarter, replaced by freshman corner Ty Redmond with Colton Hood at the other corner. The Vol Network broadcast reporter Gibson was also having his left arm examined by trainers.
Tennessee is also without starting right tackle David Sanders Jr. The five-star freshman did not dress for the game after suffering an upper body injury in practice this week.
Colton Hood returned fumble 22 yards for touchdown in first half
Hood returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown to put Tennessee up 17-0 late in the first quarter. After Syracuse scored its first points of the day, the Vols answered with a 73-yard touchdown from Joey Aguilar to Braylon Staley to get the lead back to 17.
Tennessee built the 24-7 lead on Aguilar’s 163 yards passing to go with 98 yards rushing on 16 attempts as a team. Aguilar completed 8 of 16 passes, including two passes for 87 yards to Staley.
Moi, who transferred from Stanford transfer after the 2023 season, had 16 tackles, including five tackles for loss, at Tennessee last season. In two seasons at Stanford he had 37 tackles and six tackles for loss over 24 games in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
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Gibson, a 6-0, 185-pound junior from Alabama, had a career year with the Vols last season, recording 32 tackles — 25 solo, seven assists — and had five passes defended and a forced fumble.
His role is even more important this season, as Preseason All-American Jermod McCoy continues his recovery from the torn ACL he suffered while training in January.
Rickey Gibson III was Tennessee’s most consistent corner late last season
Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez said during the preseason that Gibson was Tennessee’s most consistent corner in the second half of last season.
“I know Jermod (McCoy) had an unbelievable year,” Martinez said at the time, “don’t get me wrong. And the plays he made were phenomenal. As the season was going on, (Gibson) was the most consistent, to be honest with you, on the edges … we leaned on Rickey a lot because again, he’s a guy that knows the scheme.”
“Rickey is extremely smart,” Martinez added. “Always has been. I’ll say the skills, he’s a lot better with the ball skills. He’s really been intentional about being more — improving his ball skills to track and locate stuff. You can see it when he’s doing drills.”
