Tennessee heads into College Station with one of its more important offensive pieces trending in the right direction.
Sophomore tight end DaSaahn Brame is not listed on the Vols’ initial availability report for Saturday’s game at Texas A&M, which points to him being available after leaving the Kentucky win with an injury.
Brame’s exit came after a contested play in the end zone against the Wildcats. He was targeted on a ball near the goal line, came down hard and hit his head on the turf, then did not return after being helped to the sideline. The play was ruled incomplete on the field.
Tennessee fans had plenty to debate after the sequence, with one post on social media asking, “I need an explanation, HOW IS THIS NOT A TOUCHDOWN? He catches it, right foot hits, falls to ground, ball pops out when the Kentucky player falls on him? WHY ARE THEY LOOKING AT THE LEFT FOOT”
Josh Heupel sounded optimistic about Brame earlier in the week. On The Mike Keith Show on Monday night, the Tennessee coach said, “DaSaahn is doing good,” Heupel said. “We feel like he’ll be in a great spot for game day.”
Heupel also addressed the ruling after the Kentucky game, saying the officials told him the play had been reviewed and that the replay center still viewed it as incomplete because Brame did not hold onto the ball through contact with the ground.
“When I was talking with the officials, we haven’t gotten the report back post-game yet,” Heupel said on The Mike Keith Show. “That typically happens in the middle of the week.
But at the end of the day, he didn’t come down with the football. Didn’t maintain control of it when he was on the ground.
So that was the ruling that they gave me. They said that they did review it up top as well.”
Even with the injury, Brame finished the Kentucky game with one catch for three yards. On the season, he has 15 receptions for 184 yards and no touchdowns.
His role has grown even more with Ethan Davis out for the season. Brame has taken on a bigger load and now splits most of the tight end reps with Trent Thomas. Freshman Luca Wolf saw more action after Brame left against Kentucky and is next in line off the bench.
Tennessee and Texas A&M are set for a 3 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN.
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