On Saturday, No. 15 Tennessee football will take on the Arkansas Razorbacks at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 4:15 p.m. ET/3:15 p.m. CT on SEC Network. Matt Schumacker will have the play-by-play with Aaron Murray as the analyst. Taylor Davis will report from the sideline.
Tennessee comes in without anyone added to the season-ending injury list this week, but one player that isn’t out for the season is still on the initial report from the prior week. Sophomore running back Javin Gordon has not played since the Georgia Tech game. After missing three consecutive weeks, Gordon is listed as questionable.
Tuesday, running backs coach De’Rail Sims spoke about Gordon and how he’s handling things behind the scenes.
“He’s doing a good job in terms of in the classroom, kind of attacking this deal and continuing to learn and continuing to grow,” Sims said. “I think with him, it’s continuing to be a day-by-day deal as we go through this deal and keep attacking it. The biggest deal with him is the mentality piece of it in terms of the mental game as we continue to keep rolling with it has continued to get better.
“He’s a guy that’s extremely smart. That’s the thing that stands out to you is he’s extremely smart. So for him, he picks up very fast, but it’s always the intangible piece of it of my foot placement, my hand placement, my tracks, doing the things that we need to do, so he’s done a good job.”
Starting nickel and punt returner Qua Moss missed the Auburn game after he was ruled out Saturday morning. Moss was shaken up late in the Texas game and did not appear on last week’s report until Friday night. In that game, Moss returned a punt 57 yards for a touchdown. That was Tennessee’s first punt return for six since the 2023 season. He is no longer showing on the report.
With his absence, Tevis Metcalf was activated for his first career start alongside his brother TJ Metcalf. Tevis came up with an interception in the fourth quarter off a Mariyon Dye tip to seal a 24-14 win.
Offensive lineman Shamurad Umarov also missed the Auburn game. That, along with the season-ending injury to Wendell Moe Jr., caused a new alignment up front. The starting line was David Sanders Jr. at left tackle, Nic Moore at left guard, Sam Pendleton at center, Donovan Haslam at right guard and Jesse Perry at right tackle. Umarov is no longer on the report.
“Nic, bumping out, he had repped a little bit during training camp at that position,” head coach Josh Heupel said after Saturday’s game. “Just played extremely well throughout the course of the game. Huge smile on his face at the end of it. Proud of him, the effort, strain to get ready to go play and play hard the way he did.”
With Faizon Brandon’s lingering injury from the Texas game, it was announced Tuesday that George MacIntyre is the expected starter against Arkansas. MacIntyre replaced Brandon in the second quarter of the Auburn game and performed well. Monday, Heupel alluded to Brandon’s shoulder still being an issue. He is now listed as questionable against Arkansas.
Below is the full initial availability report:
TENNESSEE
OUT
TE #0 Ethan Davis
WR #9 Joakim Dodson
LB #12 Jaedon Harmon
DB #15 Edrees Farooq
DB #24 Dylan Lewis
DL #37 Kedric Golston II
OL #75 Wendell Moe Jr.
QUESTIONABLE
RB #6 Javin Gordon
QB #11 Faizon Brandon
ARKANSAS
OUT
TE #47 Maddox Lassiter
QUESTIONABLE
DB #2 Shelton Lewis
DL #35 Steven Soles Jr.
