Tennessee Football 2026 Orange and White Game Notes And Observations

Tennessee football’s annual Orange and White Game is in the books, marking the end of spring camp. With the Vols holding a scrimmage, we got our final look at the team, including quarterbacks, heading into the summer.

Here’s my notebook from the scrimmage inside Neyland Stadium.

Offense

Let’s start with the quarterbacks. I’ve seen some discussion about the accuracy of deep balls not being great, but I chalk that up more to coverage. There weren’t many openings down the field with coverage tight on attempts to hit those shots. Also, Mike Matthews didn’t play and a lot of the top names weren’t the ones trying to stretch the field.

Overall, the quarterbacks did fine. Nobody won or lost the job today. When there were plays to be made, for the most part, they were made. Nobody threw any jaw-dropping passes, but there weren’t a lot of chances to either. Pretty importantly, nobody turned the ball over or really ever put the ball in harm’s way, either.

The lone splash play through the air on the day was from Ryan Staub to Carson Whitehead. Zay Anderson seemed to have a missed assignment, and the pair connected. This was on the first series of the day, with Staub getting the ball to start.

After Staub’s drive, George MacIntyre took over with what seemed to be the ‘ones’. The group with him was DeSean Bishop (RB), Radarious Jackson (X), Braylon Staley (Y), Travis Smith Jr. (Z), Ethan Davis (TE), David Sanders (LT), Sham Umarov (LG), Sam Pendleton (C), Jesse Perry (RG) and Ory Williams (RT). It’s worth noting that Matthews and guard Wendell Moe Jr. did not participate in this portion.

Up front, there could’ve been better blocking in the pass game. You may be able to chalk that one up a bit to the Vols’ defense, but there was a good bit of pressure on the quarterbacks. Freshman Gabriel Osenda did have a great rep at left tackle in the drills portion, completely shutting down a rush in pass protection. Most, but not all, of the allowed pressures were not from the starting unit.

In the run game, there was one explosive play. Toward the end of the day, Javin Gordon, the Tulane transfer, trucked safety Jackson Mathews and was off to the races. Other than that, it was either a stifled attempt or a solid pickup, but nothing breaking loose.

More From RTI: WATCH: Full 2026 Tennessee Football Orange and White Game Highlights

Defense

You can make a lot of assumptions about the defense based on the above offensive notes, but I’ll dive into a bit of detail on specific players here.

In the drills portion, Ethan Utley beat Sham Umarov with a great rep. In the actual scrimmage, Zach Goves blew up a play on the edge. Darryl Rivers also had a nice day, recording a sack.

Jordan Norman had a really good day. With so much uncertainty around Chaz Coleman, it was great to see him step up at the top of the LEO room.

The two freshmen linebackers, Brayden Rouse and TJ White, also caught my eye. They were all over the place, particularly Rouse. Rouse had a really nice blitz off the edge that got cleaned up with a sack from an interior defensive lineman, as well.

In the secondary, Kayin Lee looked really strong. He laid a big hit and did his job in man coverage. Joel Wyatt also continues to impress simply based on his size and ability to move fluidly. Ty Redmond also looks great at corner. Shut down a deep ball attempted his direction and gave receivers little breathing room.

Special Teams

Cooper Ranvier hit a kick from 35, 45, then 50 yards out. Josh Turbyville hit the right upright and missed from 50, then hit from 45 and 35. No extra points were missed.

Jackson Ross continues to look strong. Says he’s trying to add some strength to his legs this offseason, which would continue to make him a weapon. All snaps and holds seemed perfectly acceptable.

Daune Morris was the first returner to get a crack at it. He finished last year in the role, as well. Others to return included Isaiah Hardge, Braylon Staley and Ian Duarte, though I think I missed one or two back there.

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