Jesse Perry’s value to Tennessee showed up in a flash on Saturday, and it came on a play that helped spring one of the Vols’ biggest moments of the day.
The offensive lineman, who has emerged during the 2025 season as a dependable piece on the right side, made a key block from the right tackle spot on Tennessee’s 55-yard touchdown pass from Faizon Brandon to a wide-open Mike Matthews in the third quarter. Perry pulled all the way over to the left side and helped create a wall between the defender and the quarterback. Javin Gordon’s pass-pro block should also be noted as well.
That kind of work doesn’t always grab the headlines when a deep ball turns into an easy touchdown, but it’s exactly the sort of thing that makes the play possible. Tennessee got the protection right, and the payoff was immediate.
SEC Network analyst Cole Cubelic pointed to Perry’s work in his SEC recap Twitter thread on Monday morning.
“OL good effort,” Cubelic wrote. “72 had good pulls. Tackles gave up edge in pass pro a few times. TEs added to run game nicely.”
Perry’s block was enough to draw Cubelic’s eye, and the film showed why. It was a clean, useful piece of line play from a player Tennessee has leaned on because of his flexibility. Perry can line up at guard or tackle on the right side, and the Vols spent Saturday rotating through different offensive line combinations as they continue sorting out their best five.
For now, Perry looks like a safe bet to remain in the mix wherever Tennessee needs him most.
That was reflected in the grading too. The Tennessee native finished as UT’s highest-rated offensive lineman from Pro Football Focus on Sunday with a 65.3 grade.
Brandon’s touchdown to Matthews was only part of the quarterback’s day. The 55-yarder was one of five touchdowns Brandon contributed to, and he hit Matthews again on the next drive for a 57-yard score. That one, though, came with a much higher degree of difficulty for both players.
Still, the first connection was the one that showed how the play starts in the trenches. Perry did his job, Tennessee held up in protection, and Brandon and Matthews finished the rest. As the Vols keep working toward their best offensive unit, Perry figures to be right in the middle of it.
In Other News...
Tennessee Just Took An Early Hit In Its Receiver Rotation
Tennessees receiver depth took an early blow in the season opener when Joakim Dodson went down with a leg injury against Furman. Josh Heupel later confirmed the injury was season-ending, and Dodson was seen on crutches after getting hurt on a kickoff return in the fourth quarter.
For a Tennessee offense that leans on its wideouts to keep the tempo and spacing intact, the timing is less than ideal. The immediate ripple effect points to freshman Tyreek King moving into the backup slot role, a quick promotion that puts more responsibility on a young player before the Volunteers have even settled into September. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Opener Told One Story But The Film May Say Another
Tennessees 56-9 win over Furman looked like the kind of season opener that can smooth over a lot of early questions, but the game film offered a more layered picture. Pro Football Focus went back through the matchup and graded Volunteers players on a 1-to-100 scale, giving the staff and fans a different lens than the scoreboard alone.
Those grades are built to strip away some of the emotion that comes with a comfortable win, and they can sometimes diverge from what coaches see on the sideline or in the meeting room. For Tennessee, that makes the opener less of a finished product and more of a first checkpoint, with the real value coming in how the performance is judged once the film slows everything down. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Opening Win Just Created A New Depth Problem
Tennessees season-opening win came with an immediate personnel hit, as wide receiver Joakim Dodson went down with a leg injury during a kick return and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. Before leaving the game, Dodson had logged 15 offensive snaps and handled one kickoff return for 20 yards, giving the Vols a brief look at a player who was part of both the passing game and special teams mix.
Now the challenge shifts to depth, especially in the slot and on kick returns, where Tennessee has to sort out who can absorb those snaps and those touches. It is the kind of early-season problem teams hope to avoid, because it does not just remove a receiver from the rotation, it also forces a quick answer on special teams for a unit that can be easy to overlook until an injury changes the math. [Read more 🡒]