A pair of Tennessee football defensive linemen are on the injury report Wednesday night as the Vols prepare to face Mississippi State in their SEC road opener Saturday afternoon.
Defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs is officially out for the game while defensive tackle Jaxson Moi is probable on the official SEC Availability Report. Defensive end Tyre West is not on the injury report and is fully available for the SEC matchup.
Moi suffered an injury three plays into Tennessee’s season-opening win over Syracuse and is “expected to be available” for the first time since according to a report from On3’s Chris Low and Pete Nakos. The senior defensive tackle was pushing to return two weeks ago against Georgia but was unable to make his return two weeks after the initial injury.
Tennessee’s defensive tackle depth has been decimated early this season but getting Moi back in the fold is a major win ahead of the road showdown in Starkville. It would be an even bigger plus if Tennessee gets junior Daevin Hobbs back though that seems less likely.
Hobbs appeared poised for a breakout season before injuring his foot midway through fall practice. The junior has been out of a boot for multiple weeks and should be back over the next few weeks.
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West missed his first game of the season a week against UAB after turning in a strong performance against Georgia. Missing the UAB game proved to be purely cautionary ahead of the SEC matchup
With Moi and Hobbs sidelined, Tennessee strongside defensive end Dominic Bailey slid inside to defensive tackle the last few weeks. He’s capable of playing both spots and could do both this week against Mississippi State
Tennessee is a touchdown favorites against Mississippi State as of Wednesday afternoon. The Vols are looking for their first SEC win after falling to Georgia in their conference opener two weeks prior. Mississippi State is off to a 4-0 start with a quartet of non conference wins.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Mississippi State is at 4:15 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon. Dave Neal, Fozzy Whittaker and Morgan Uber are on the call for the SEC Network.
