*** For the second straight day, head coach Jeremy Pruitt spent the first period with the receivers, as the unit focused on back-shoulder fades and quick slants. Pruitt personally showed Jauan Jennings and Josh Palmer how to run a route. Wideouts coach David Johnson hollered, āAttackā the entire period.
*** Unlike Tuesday though, Pruitt stayed with the offense the next period, too, closely watching the wideouts and quarterbacks.
*** For the second straight day, sophomore Nathan Niehaus worked the entire two periods with the first-team offense at right guard. Jerome Carvin was with the 2s at center.
*** It was all about 3rd down defense for the Vols today. The secondary, with Micah Abernathy again working on the side, focused on pattern-matching. Shawn Shamburger was in Abernathyās place and Theo Jackson was the second inside corner in the rabbits package.
The front-seven then worked on a drill Iāve never seen before. Going against the scout team o-line, Tennessee had its entire two-deep (linebackers and d-lineman in rabbits package) stacked on top of each other running through various blitz packages. At one time, there were literally 14 guys on defense together. [Insert snarky joke about this helping Tennesseeās chances Saturday if it were possible].
*** Greg Emerson spent the day in a No. 3 scout team jersey, mimicking Auburn defensive lineman Marlon Davidson.
*** The tight ends worked on a few different route combinations today, including some wham/pick plays.