Tennessee’s offensive line took a hit Saturday when Donovan Haslam went down with an upper-body injury against South Carolina and did not return, according to the Vol Network broadcast.
Haslam had worked his way into the right guard spot, but his day ended in the first half. Shamurad Umarov stepped in after the injury, forcing Tennessee to reshuffle again up front.
That matters because the Vols had finally found some rhythm along the line after earlier changes. Wendell Moe Jr. had already been lost earlier in the season, which pushed Nic Moore over to left guard. Since then, Tennessee’s front had started to settle in and show the kind of cohesion that’s hard to build in the middle of a season.
The line’s recent improvement had been a big part of the story over the past few weeks, and Haslam pointed to the work behind the scenes when talking about the progress.
“We’re just trying to practice better in practice,” Haslam said earlier in the week. “Make sure we practice harder.
Basically practice like we’re going to play in the game. And then like I said, we got to communicate just about everything.
If we communicate, make sure we’re on the same page, it’s going to be easier to pass off the twist and work better together.”
The numbers backed that up a bit, too. Tennessee allowed just two sacks over its previous two games before Haslam exited. South Carolina had not gotten to George MacIntyre before then, but the Gamecocks did eventually bring him down for a sack in the third quarter.
More information on Haslam’s status should come as it becomes available.
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