Tennessee football is nearing the end of its spring practice slate and held its second scrimmage on Thursday. After the event inside Neyland Stadium, head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to give his thoughts on what transpired.
Here are three takeaways from what he said.
More From RTI: Josh Heupel Details Key Difference in Vols’ First and Second Spring Scrimmages
Dasaahn Brame Made a Big Play
With Miles Kitselman gone to eligibility and Jack Van Dorselaer transferring out to Oklahoma, there’s pressure on Dasaahn Brame to be ready to go in year two. Ethan Davis controls the room and will play the majority of snaps, but the second-string role is up for the taking.
Brame seems to be developing nicely as the top candidate for the job. He got to campus as a proven route runner and pass catcher, but is growing in the blocking game now, as well.
The receiving ability took the headlines for him in the scrimmage, though, making a big play down the middle of the field.
“Certainly a guy that, because of what he did in high school, how he grew up inside of the game, very natural,” Heupel said. “As a route runner, understanding space, leverage, being able to go up and high point, big catch radius, created a big play today down the middle of the football field. He has definitely grown in becoming a complete tight end, being able to play in the run game and protection, too. And so I’ve been really excited about what he’s done.
“I think I said last time we talked, too, that’s a guy that missed a bunch of time with an injury coming out of high school a year ago. Certainly grew throughout the course of the season as he got healthy, got exposed to more things, but expecting him to play a lot of football and play at a really high level.”
Defense Won the First Half, Offense Bounced Back
After wishing everyone a Happy Easter, Heupel revealed some details about how the scrimmage started and closed. Out the gates, the defense was doing better. Then, the offense started finding its rhythm later.
That’s the give and take you want to see in these matchups.
“Scrimmage number two, I thought defensively did a really good job in the early part of the scrimmage,” Heupel said. “Assignment sound, being in the right position and then getting off the field on third down. And second half of the scrimmage offense put a couple of plays together. All in all, really good work and a lot left for us here as we head into our last week of spring ball.”
Heupel also sang the praises of the defense after the first scrimmage. This time, more was put on their plate, and they handled it well.
“I think defensively, some of the things that we’ve added, I thought they grasped it really quickly and handled it well,” Heupel said. “They’ve continued to grow just fundamentally and within the scope of technique, that’s inside the scheme, but also just block destruction, tackling, we took a step.”
Young Quarterbacks Continue to Battle
The top thing to watch this entire offseason will be the quarterback battle. The three-man race between George MacIntyre, Faizon Brandon and Ryan Staub will rage on into the fall, but Heupel seemed pleased with how the group is progressing to this point.
“In general, I’ve been really pleased with their decision-making, taking care of the football,” Heupel said. “There’s been a couple of things where they’ve maybe not seen it right or as the play has broken down and had to move body and upper body position where they haven’t been as accurate or sound in the decision-making. Collectively as a group they’ve been really good. There’s a couple things that each of them got to continue to grow in, but that’s spring ball and through the course of summer and and training camp, too.”
As far as Brandon, the five-star true freshman of the group, Heupel is encouraged by how he’s picking things up, as well.
“For a true freshman, getting here in January, seven weeks off-season, what we did, and then hitting the ground in spring ball, through today he’s been really sound in what he’s done,” Heupel said. “I think the pass game, certainly, there’s a lot on our quarterbacks in the run game too. And that’s an area that at times can be the hardest part for our quarterbacks. But he’s continued to progress in that. There’s still a lot left for him and everybody in that room for us to do what we need to. But as a true freshman, certainly pleased with what he’s done up until this point.”
