For the first time this season, Tennessee football freshman offensive lineman David Sanders Jr. saw the field. After dealing with a unique upper-body injury, Sanders was cleared to play at Mississippi State for his college debut. However, with the offensive line playing well without him, Josh Heupel opted to keep Jesse Perry at right tackle for the game.
In the fourth quarter, Perry went down with an injury early in a drive, though. Tennessee needed to march down the field with little time remaining to tie the game on the road, and Sanders entered for his first collegiate snap.
Ultimately, Sanders was on the field for 11 snaps. The drive ended in a touchdown rush from Joey Aguilar to knot up the score. On the ensuing drive at the end of regulation and in overtime, Perry was able to return, which put Sanders back on the sideline.
According to PFF, Sanders didn’t have the strongest showing. He was given a 45.2 grade, the worst on the team on offense, including a potentially costly false start penalty on third-and-one. UT was able to convert afterward, though, despite backing up five yards.
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Sanders pass blocked on five plays. In this time, he was given a 45.3 grade. He run blocked on the other six, earning a 59.1 mark.
After the game, Heupel was asked about the debut of Sanders. He recognized the tough situation he was put in and thought he’s handled the early adversity of his career well.
“I thought he went in there in a tough situation, getting first action, responded, played really well,” Heupel said. “It’s a great example to young guys that haven’t been in this game that you don’t know when it’s coming, but it’s coming, you better be ready. It’s during the course of play, 60 minutest, it’s week to week, and it’s great to have him back. That’s a young guy that has had to deal with an adverse injury right out the gate, handled it well. He was a great teammate and has wanted to be on that field. As a coach, you deal with a lot of hard moments, too. When he got the word that, man, he was cleared— that’s one of those great moments that stays with you, too.”
Now, Tennessee has an open date and will not play in a game this upcoming weekend. This gives UT two weeks to prepare for Arkansas to come to town after the Razorbacks won in Fayetteville a year ago.
