The game plan ahead of Tennessee's Week 2 clash with Austin Peay was to get the younger players on its defense valuable reps. Now, it’s a matter of necessity.
Starting linebacker Keenan Pili will miss multiple weeks with an upper body injury and the depth at the position that the Vols' coaching staff has touted all offseason will have its opportunity to be put on full display—on Saturday and beyond.
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"You're going to see all those guys play a bunch of football," head coach Josh Heupel said. "You'll see us rotate a bunch there. For those guys, to be honest, I haven't seen a whole lot different up until the moment of opportunity here with Keenan's injury. I think that's a compliment to them individually, but also, coach (Brian Jean-Mary) has done a great job developing that room. Those guys will be excited to play at a really high level."
On Tennessee's depth chart, sophomore Elijah Herring is listed behind Pili at the Mike linebacker position with freshman Jeremiah Telander in the No. 3 spot.
Both players saw the field in the Vols' 49-13 win over Virginia last season, with Herring playing the third most defensive snaps behind Aaron Bealsey and Pili at 24. He finished with five tackles and assisted on a tackle for loss.
A year ago, Herring split time between linebacker and special teams. He appeared in every game and totaled 11 tackles, 2.5 TFL and two sacks and is in line to make his first career start on Saturday.
"As far as Elijah goes, he's a classic MIKE linebacker," defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. "He's got great size for the position (and) he's extremely physical. As he continues to learn the position, we saw flashes of it on Saturday, just growth in terms of knowing what they expect and being in the right places at the right time.
"Just his overall size that he brings to the position, particularly with some of the pressures that we run, we like to think that we have a chance to win versus some of the backs that we'll see (against Austin Peay)."
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Telander played seven snaps against Virginia and sophomore Kalib Perry, who is currently second on the depth chart behind Beasley at Will linebacker, was on the field for five.
Highly touted freshman Arion Carter impressed in his Tennessee debut.
A four star in-state signee in the Vols' 2023 class that played running back in high school before being recruited as a linebacker, made an early impression in the spring and only improved in fall camp, working his way into the second spot alongside Perry at Will.
"(Carter), just his sheer athleticism," Banks said. "You guys know the story, obviously a running back in high school, started trending as a linebacker late in his career. He's still learning, but just his overall athleticism, his ball awareness are things that are hard to teach. We think that as he continues to get reps, he has a chance to be a really good player in this league."
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Carter's role, along with Perry, Telander and others should increase against Austin Peay, providing much-needed reps on their home turf with the Vols' SEC opener at Florida looming.
"I think every rep is valuable," Banks said. "Obviously, it was great playing at Nissan Stadium, but getting the chance to get back to Neyland is something that everybody is fired up for...We know we're going to have our hands full just to defend (Austin Peay) and play at the level that we need to play at."
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