KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It’s halfway through the college football season for No. 14 Tennessee. The Vols are coming off a close 24-17 win over Arkansas in Fayetteville, and it was a breakout day for sophomore tight end DaSaahn Brame.
“I think it was awesome for him to finally have kind of a breakthrough game,” Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln told us Tuesday morning. “Certainly has taken a lot of steps that I think kind of behind the scenes you notice, and for it to show up on the stat sheet’s always good. Looking forward to seeing more of it.”
Brame was a huge part of the fabric of that Vols win. He finished with three receptions for 87 yards and added a rushing touchdown from a yard out in the fourth quarter to put Tennessee ahead 17-14. The drive was set up by his career-long 68-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline.
For a tight end who was thrust into the starting role after Ethan Davis went down earlier this season, Brame’s been due a day to showcase what he’s been working hard for. And he’s been patient while also working hard as a blocker to help out the run game that will in turn open up the pass game, which has been a work in progress.
“A couple weeks ago, I was getting asked about the passing game, and I was just saying my time will come,” Brame said Tuesday. “I feel like how much we ran the ball had the linebackers overflowing a little bit, so it opened up a lot more options in the passing game.”
There’s always more to improve on, and Brame knows the big thing has been pass protection. That is an area the offensive line has taken a lot of heat for this year, but the tight ends are right there in that group. Brame acknowledges that as something he has to get better at. As for Abeln, he pointed to that for the whole tight end room.
“Well, we got George smoked on one Saturday, so that, obviously, not very good,” Abeln said Tuesday. “It is a detail thing. It’s an assignment thing, first and foremost, and again, different structure, different personnel grouping, nothing that you really worked on but have to be able to handle adjustments. If we can’t trust you in pro, it’s hard to play.
“I’ve said that before, and I’ve also said it’s never really quite good enough. There’s always gonna be a technique thing that you can change, and knowing that with all the different hats that we wear, your indi time is limited, so when you get pass pro opportunities, man, they’ve gotta count. You’ve gotta grow from them.”
With it being halfway through the season, I asked Abeln for his takeaways on the tight end room and what it needs to do to finish the back half strong. He likes where the group is in a lot of areas, but he doesn’t think it has reached the level of dominance he’s after just yet.
“I think we’ve been solid in a lot of aspects,” Abeln said. “I don’t know that we’ve been dominant in any. And I think the continuing challenge to impose your will physically on people, there’s another level to this thing that we’re still chasing.
“Some of it’s technique, fundamentals, some of it’s mindset, being where you need to be mentally every play. I don’t know. I think there’s more opportunity in the pass game, details of those things that, you do your job, it’ll find you more. So not just being good, not just doing our job, but being dominant in what we’re being asked to do.”
Saturday, the Vols will take on Alabama at home, and the tight end group will need to be dialed in and trend toward being more dominant in order to come out on top. It will take that from all groups.
“They’re a really big, physical team, and it’s going to be a great challenge,” Brame said. “But I feel like we’re all up for it in the front seven.”
No. 14 Tennessee and No. 6 Alabama will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET inside Neyland Stadium. The game will be nationally broadcast on ABC. Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Greg McElroy (analyst) will be on the call, with Katie George reporting from the sideline.
