It’s just two weeks into the season but Tennessee football has already dealt with an abundance of injuries to multiple key defenders and one starting offensive linemen. Most of those players will likely not return for the Vols’ SEC opener against Georgia Saturday afternoon but a few could.
At the top of that list is starting defensive tackle Jaxson Moi who suffered an injury three plays into the Syracuse game and did not play a week ago against ETSU. Asked if there was optimism that Moi could return for the Georgia game, Heupel provided a short but positive answer on Wednesday’s SEC Coaches Teleconference.
“Yeah, there’s certainly some belief on that side of it, but you’ll be able to see on the injury report here tonight,” Heupel said.
The first Tennessee-related SEC Availability Report of the season comes out at 8:15 p.m. ET Wednesday night. With Moi’s status uncertain for the game, Tennessee will likely list Moi as questionable on Wednesday night before updating his status as it becomes more clear later in the week.
More From RTI: Four-Star Virginia Tech Commit Reportedly Visiting Tennessee This Weekend
Moi played 246 snaps at defensive tackle for Tennessee a season ago after transferring in from Stanford following his sophomore season. The California native totaled eight tackles and two sacks a season ago as a rotational defensive tackle.
The 6-foot-2, 305-pound lineman is stepping into a bigger role this season after Tennessee lost top defensive tackles Omarr Norman-Lott, Omari Thomas and Elijah Simmons from last season’s team. Moi began the season as a starting defensive tackle beside Bryson Eason.
Moi’s status is all the more important because Tennessee defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs suffered an injury in fall camp and is not expected to return for Saturday’s showdown against Georgia.
Tennessee’s run defense looked susceptible in its season-opening win over Syracuse and Kirby Smart’s Georgia program is known year-in, year-out for its ability to run the football. Getting Moi back would be a major lift for Tennessee’s run defense ahead of the matchup.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Georgia is at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe are on the call for ABC.
