Tennessee right tackle David Sanders is ‘expected to miss’ the Vols’ home opener against ETSU Saturday, according to a report from On3’s Chris Low. It would be the second straight game that Sanders would miss to begin the season after suffering an injury in practice the week before the opener against Syracuse. Low did say that he will be ‘re-evaluated’ before the game, though.
Head coach Josh Heupel downplayed the injury following Tennessee’s 45-26 victory over Syracuse, making it sound like Sanders would be ready to make his college debut this week against ETSU.
“Just late in practice on Wednesday kind of got nicked up,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said following the game. “Anticipated him being able to play. This morning, our medical staff just felt like it probably wasn’t the right thing to do. We are always going to be mindful of our guys and their health. If they get cleared they’re ready to roll and we’ll go play with them.”
Tennessee’s offensive line fared well without Sanders to begin the season. Right guard Jesse Perry slid out to right tackle, left guard Wendell Moe Jr. slide to right guard and Sham Umarov jumped into the starting lineup at left guard. Lance Heard remained at left tackle and Sam Pendleton remained at center as the Vols passes for 247 yards and ran for 246 yards.
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The Vols will certainly be fine without Sanders against ETSU if he does miss the matchup and it’s smart to play things cautious if Sanders is not close to 100%. But Sanders could now potentially make his college debut next week against Georgia’s daunted defensive front— an incredibly tough task for the young tackle.
Sanders was the crown jewel of Tennessee’s 2025 recruiting class as the Vols outlasted Ohio State to land the blue-chip offensive tackle. Starting at offensive tackle as a true freshman is an incredibly tough task but Sanders had set himself up for success, adding 40 pounds to his thin frame over the offseason.
Tennessee is down a number of key players for its home opener at Neyland Stadium including cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson as well as defensive tackles Jaxson Moi and Daevin Hobbs. The Vols are battling a number of injuries on the defensive end and are looking to build depth ahead of SEC play.
Kickoff between Tennessee and ETSU is at 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. Matt Schumacker, Dustin Fox and Stephanie Otey are on the call as the SEC Network+ and ESPN+ stream the game.
