Injuries have plagued Tennessee football, particularly on defense, to start the year. However, a combination of social media posts, official injury reports Wednesday and reporting by other sources has resulted in the Vols getting the best news they could possibly get on that front heading into Saturday’s road matchup with the Mississippi State Bulldogs.
Jaxson Moi is expected to be back Saturday, Jermod McCoy and Daevin Hobbs are targeting a return for when the Vols play the Arkansas Razorbacks after next week’s bye, and David Sanders Jr. is clearly close to getting ready to go, according to Pete Nakos of ON3. That means UT could take a huge leap forward very soon.
Moi was listed as “probable” for the game by the Vols. The defensive tackle posted on his Instagram Tuesday night saying, “God, thank you is truly all I can say. Let’s ride.” He then immediately took it down, which is likely due to Josh Heupel wanting to keep it under wraps as much as possible.
Regardless, Moi’s return seems evident, and that’s a huge deal. A big reason for Tennessee football losing to Georgia was not having enough depth on the defensive line, and they got tired in the fourth quarter. That’s why Hobbs returning in potentially two weeks after being sidelined since the start of the season is also a huge deal. UT needs more help up front.
McCoy coming back will also finally give the Vols the island coverage they need on the outside at cornerback. Him starting opposite Colton Hood could dramatically improve the Tennessee secondary, even with the issues at safety, and Boo Carter is getting better in the star position by the day.
Sanders is day-to-day, according to Nakos, and listed as questionable. It’s a safe bet then that he will be ready to go when the Vols face the Hogs as well. If that’s the case, Tennessee has the perfect game, at home with a need for revenge against a bad team, to get all their key players back into rhythm, or in Sanders’ case as a true freshman offensive tackle, gain experience.
Taking all this into account, Tennessee football is in superb shape. Everything hinges on them being able to get past MSU, which they have a much better chance of doing with Moi back. If they do, then they have the bye, and everybody else will be ready to go. The defense will do a 180 and catch up to the offense just in time for the gauntlet.
