Tennessee capped off spring practice with the annual Orange and White in Neyland Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Orange squad picked up a 21-14 win over the white team as the Volunteer offense alternated possessions for the two squads to determine the final score.
Quarterbacks Provide Spark
The Tennessee quarterbacks provided the sparks for the offensive attack on Saturday.
Three quarterbacks threw touchdown passes, while Jake Merklinger added a 26-yard touchdown run.
“All in all today, I thought they handled the mechanics, the game-like situations extremely well,” Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel said. “Decisive and accurate for most of the day. A couple of balls that were high in the middle of the football, but all-in-all, I thought they handled themselves extremely well.”
Nico Iamaleava went 7-of-9 passing for 96 yards and a 27-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Nimrod in limited snaps. Gaston Moore finished the game 12-of-18 for 184 yards with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Mike Matthews and a 13-yard pass to Dayton Sneed.
In addition to his 26-yard scamper for a touchdown, the freshman Merklinger was 5-of-7 for 105 yards including a 71-yard touchdown pass to Chris Brazzell II.
“I thought he handled himself really well,” Heupel said of Merklinger. “He’s a young guy, and you guys have heard me say it, as a coach I break it up into thirds during the 15 practices that you get during in spring ball, and just his growth fundamentally, understanding what we’re doing with defensive structures and being a good decision maker. He’s just continued to grow throughout the course of spring ball, so today in front of fans and having the opportunity to play in the stadium, I thought he did a nice job.”
The Volunteers did hold out a number of starters out of precaution on both sides of the ball.
“Great Energy” From Limited Crowd
The 2024 edition of the Orange and White game saw attendance limited to just 10,000 fans due to ongoing construction on Neyland Stadium.
Despite the limited number, Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel liked what he saw from the fans.
“The fans today were awesome,” Heupel said. “I know we were limited to 10,000 because of the 300-million-dollar renovation to the stadium, but there was great energy from everybody. Great day just getting our players’ families back here into town, having an opportunity to see them before the game and then obviously afterwards. Huge recruiting weekend for us, too, so appreciate all the fans coming out. Enjoyed Vol Walk, too.”
Prior to the Orange and White game, the Volunteer men’s basketball team joined the Vols during the Vol Walk to honor the team for their run to the Elite 8 and winning the SEC regular season title.
“Opportunity to honor our basketball program and everything that those guys accomplished this past regular season,” Heupel said. “Great group of guys, too. You look at Santiago Vescovi and Josiah-Jordan James, what they’ve meant to this program, and how selfless those guys were inside of the basketball program. It was awesome to be a part of honoring them today, too.”
In-Helmet Communication Still A Work In Progress
Throughout the spring, Tennessee joined other NCAA teams in testing in-helmet communication.
The NCAA will allow in-helmet communication – much like the NFL uses – this upcoming season, and teams are allowed to use the devices this spring.
“Yeah, still a work in progress as we continue into training camp,” Heupel said. “I think everybody inside of our league was limited to three of those devices that would work and operate on a day-to-day basis, including scrimmages.”
Tennessee initially put two of the three devices on the offensive side of the ball, but worked with the different scenarios throughout spring ball.
“We put two of them on the offensive side early in spring ball, transitioned it to the defense of both sides, and have to take care of play with how it’s going to function and operate,” Heupel said. “Our communication system will continue to evolve as we have better idea with that.”
