Tennessee’s Orange and White Spring Game wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. The Orange team defeated the White team, 70-63, after breaking away from a 60-60 margin midway through the third quarter and holding the lead for the remainder of the game.
Joshua Dobbs was limited to 116 yards and an interception on 5-of-9 passing. Quinten Dormady had 95 yards and a touchdown on 10-of-15 passing, granted he faced backup defensive players.
John Kelly was given the load of the white team’s rushing attempts with 66 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, more than Jalen Hurd’s nine for 26 yards and Alvin Kamara’s four for 10 yards. But again, that’s not unorthodox in a spring game where Kelly has a chance to prove himself while Hurd and Kamara have already guaranteed major roles in Tennessee’s rushing attack.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway on offense was that Preston Williams and Ethan Wolf both enjoyed solid receiving performances. Williams, who was limited as a freshman in 2015, finished with three catches for 77 yards. Wolf, who went without a reception in 11 consecutive games as a sophomore, finished with three receptions for 67 yards.
Wolf was the first true freshman to start at tight end in a season opener for Tennessee in 2014 and has held that role — aside from missing time due to injuries — ever since. Williams is a former 4-star prospect who should see a bigger role in his second season following the departures of Marquez North and Von Pearson.
It’s also worth noting that Todd Kelly Jr., who is expected to start at either safety position following the departures of Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil, was responsible for Dobbs’ early interception as well as three tackles in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Again, nothing too surprising from Tennessee’s spring game.
Head coach Butch Jones limited his long-time starters while putting more emphasis on the rest of his depth chart. Even less surprising was his decision to name Joshua Dobbs, Alvin Kamara, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cameron Sutton team captains for the 2016 season.
Dobbs, Reeves-Maybin and Sutton will enter their senior seasons after being multi-year starters. Kamara is a redshirt junior who will serve a crucial role as Tennessee’s spell back to Hurd and provide another alternative for one of the SEC’s best three-headed backfields.
Overall, there wasn’t much else that stood out in Saturday’s spring game. In recent games, Vols fans have used the Orange and White Game as a way to build optimism for the future during what has been a nearly decade-long rebuilding process. But Tennessee now finds itself favored in the East division with one of the strongest returning lineups in the SEC.
It’s not like Hurd’s performance compared to Kelly’s isn’t going to take away from the fact that he’s the third leading active rusher in the conference and is expected to break Tennessee’s school rushing record in 2016 barring an injury. Nor is Dobbs’ lone interception any cause for concern.
The Orange and White Game was a glorified scrimmage to give Tennessee fans something to keep them satisfied in the long period between spring and fall practices. If nothing else, the best thing to come out of the spring game was that there were no major injuries to key players.
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