No. 22 Tennessee missing key pieces as East Tenneseee St. visits

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel just wants his team to get better when the No. 22 Volunteers host East Tennessee State on Saturday.The Volunteers (1-0) are coming off a 45-26 win over Syracuse last Saturday.”We had a bunch of yards and a bunch of points so now we just need to work on constant growth,” Heupel said Monday. “We are all chasing perfection, but we know that is probably not going to happen. So we just need to take a jump by unit and by individuals.”The Volunteers were led by senior quarterback Joey Aguilar who threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns.”Me personally, as an athlete, I thought I could have done better,” Aguilar said. “Our offensive line kept me clean and did a great job with the run game.”Senior running back Star Thomas gained 92 yards on 12 carries and Brayton Staley led the team in receiving with four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.Heupel was a little concerned by his defense, which came out flat in the second half and ended up giving up 377 yards to the Orange.Tennessee led 38-14 in the third quarter, however, so many of those yards came with the game decided.The Volunteers lost starting cornerback Rickey Gibson III to an arm injury in the second quarter. The defense was already playing without top cornerback Jermod McCoy, who tore his ACL in January. Tennessee is hoping he will be back later this month.Heupel has not specified the nature of Gibson’s arm injury, just that he will miss “extended time.”Gibson had 32 tackles, five pass breakups and a forced fumble last season.Tennessee will lean on Colorado transfer Colton Hood, who had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three pass breakups in the opener, as well as freshman Ty Redmond and others at cornerback.Volunteers defensive tackle Jaxson Moi, who started the Syracuse game, will miss the contest with a left arm injury, but Heupel said that he’s expected back soon.

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Titans vs Texans: Week 18 Primer

Titans vs Texans: Week 18 Primer

The Tennessee Titans (11-5) travel to The Lone Star State to take on the Houston Texans (4-12) in the final week of the 2021 NFL regular season.

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