Tennessee may be getting a little healthier up front just in time for its final non-conference tune-up.
Josh Heupel said Monday that freshman defensive tackle JJ Finch should be available Saturday night when the 15th-ranked Vols host Kennesaw State in Knoxville. Finch missed Tennessee’s 45-24 win at Georgia Tech on Saturday because of an unspecified injury, but Heupel sounded confident during a Knoxville Quarterback Club luncheon at Calhoun’s on the River that the young lineman will return.
“Here [in the] first couple weeks, we've had a few injuries - couple in training camp, too,” Heupel said. “Some of those that were nicked up this past Saturday, we feel like, will be ready to go this coming Saturday.
“And some of our young guys - you know, JJ Finch wasn't available last week. We feel like he'll be ready to go.”
That would be a welcome development for a Tennessee defensive line that has been patched together at times since preseason camp began last month. Finch looked like a real part of the rotation before the injury. He played 22 snaps in the season-opening 56-9 win over Furman on Sept. 5, and even without recording a stat, he earned a 72.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus.
The 6-foot-3, 297-pound tackle came to Tennessee as a highly regarded addition. Finch, a former standout at Warren Central High School in Indianapolis, was a four-star recruit in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. He first committed to Alabama in June 2025, then flipped to Tennessee on Early Signing Day in December.
Tennessee’s interior line picture has already been fluid. Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam made a huge first impression against Furman with three sacks and five tackles for loss, and he started Saturday beside senior Nathan Robinson at defensive tackle. Senior Daevin Hobbs is also expected to be a major piece this season, but the depth behind those three has been tested by injuries and inexperience.
Hobbs dealt with an injury during preseason camp and missed a large chunk of Saturday’s game before coming back in the second half. Sophomore Isaiah Campbell missed the opener after getting hurt in camp, then played six snaps against Georgia Tech. Fellow sophomore Ethan Utley also left Saturday night with an injury before returning.
Heupel made clear that this is part of the grind of a season, and that Tennessee needs more than a couple of reliable bodies to hold up.
“That's kind of the course of the season,” Heupel said. “A lot of people just get caught up in who the starter is.
The strength of one position room can never just be one guy or two guys. It's got to be the entire room, and somebody's going to have to step up.
And you don't know when that moment is, but you better be prepared for it.
“And that was part of the challenge to our young players today in our team room. Some of the guys that went in the football game late in the game didn't play up to the standard of who we need to be.”
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Telander also touched on the shift in his own defensive role, which has been part of the early-season adjustment for Tennessees defense. Even with the convincing victory in hand, he kept the focus on progress and the details the Vols still need to clean up, a familiar message but one that carries more weight when it comes after a road win against a Power Four opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessees Freshman Pecking Order Is Already Taking Shape
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Faizon Brandon set the tone by starting at quarterback and finishing 10 of 21 for 148 yards with two touchdowns, giving Tennessee an immediate reason to keep expanding his role. Elsewhere, several freshmen mostly showed up on special teams, while a separate group did not get on the field at all, leaving the first game to start sketching out a pecking order that could keep evolving as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]