Gooden out, Niehaus gone, praise for Henry T.

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has his first major challenge of the 2019 season. After a quiet offseason and a healthy spring, Pruitt’s second-year defense has been dealt a major blow in the loss of defensive tackle Emmit Gooden who suffered a torn ACL Tuesday on the practice field, as noted earlier in the day by Volquest staffers Jesse Simonton and Austin Price.

“Unfortunately last night Emmit Gooden suffered a knee injury and he won’t be with us this year,” Pruitt said after Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “It’s unfortunate for him and our football team.

“He’s a guy that has another year. He’ll continue with going to school and get ready to come back next spring.”

Gooden is the only returning defensive lineman who played more than 125 snaps last season. Meaning he was the only guy to average more than 10 snaps a game.

Throw on top of it that Gooden was practicing at a different level of intensity and effort through the first four days and the Vol defensive front has a void.

The question is who will fill the void? Pruitt said they have enough bodies, even with Kurot Garland remaining in the transfer portal.

“We have enough, we’ll move some guys (around) up there,” Pruitt said. “We’ve got 10 guys there right now working on the defensive line. There’s not a whole lot of difference in any of them. Some of them have played in some games, some haven’t.

“They all have strengths and weaknesses but most of them have very limited game experience.”

The most important document to Tennessee football is the appeal of defensive lineman Aubrey Solomon. Solomon’s eligibility was important to this defense before the injury to Gooden. It now takes on a greater importance. Pruitt said on Wednesday that there is no new news regarding the appeal. Several players around the country the last 24-48 hours have received word on their status from the NCAA.

Tennessee offensive lineman Nathan Niehaus has elected to leave the team Pruitt confirmed on Wednesday. Niehaus practiced with the Vols on Tuesday but was not on the practice field Wednesday after deciding leave the team

He started six games at guard last fall but appeared to be headed for a reserve role this fall barring injuries up front.

Pruitt said that the decision to leave the team was strictly Niehaus’ decision.

Pruitt is exceedingly stingy when it comes to doling out praise to his players, that’s often especially true when it comes to freshmen.

So it was noteworthy this evening when Pruitt didn’t hesitate to toss some compliments in the direction of freshman linebacker Henry To’o To’o who has gotten off to a strong start in camp despite not being among the newcomers who had the chance to enroll early and go through spring practice.

“Henry is a guy that things have come really easy to so far,” Pruitt said of the freshman who was a prized recruit in the Class of 2019. “He picks things up. He’s instinctive. He can cover, fits runs. That’s what you’re looking for as a linebacker.

“He’s pretty advanced for a young guy at that position. He’s capable of being the signal caller. He’s a guy that can play all three downs. He goes out there and works every day, he’s a hardworking guy. He’s tough, he’s physical.”