It looks like Tennessee football will be without one of its starting offensive guards for its game against Illinois in the Music City Bowl on Tuesday in Nashville. Wendell Moe Jr. is with the team inside Nissan Stadium, but is on crutches and has a boot on his right foot.
Moe appeared and started in 11 games this year. The only game he did not play in was the trip to Florida, though he was in attendance and cleared on the SEC availability report the day ahead of the game.
Moe suffered an injury in the game prior to the trip to The Swamp during the win over New Mexico State. It was during a nightmare of a drive for the Vols, in which DeSean Bishop, Peyton Lewis, Miles Kitselman and Moe all went down with injuries.
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Moe is in his first year with the Vols after transferring in from Arizona. He is expected to return next season and reprise his role as a starter on the interior of the offensive line.
This year, Moe registered a PFF grade of 76.6 on the season. This included a 74.8 mark in pass blocking and 76.2 mark in the run game. He played both left and right guard throughout the year.
Without Moe, the offensive line is easy to project, unless Josh Heupel decides to really mix things up. The most logical move would be to keep everything as is, but insert Sham Umarov at left guard in his absence. Umarov has played left guard in all 12 games, including starts in nine. The rest of the line will likely be Lance Heard at left tackle, Sam Pendleton at center, Jesse Perry at right guard and David Sanders Jr. at right tackle.
Kick-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN. The Music City Bowl is played in Nashville in Nissan Stadium, at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.
