Staples: How Tennessee’s Nasty (No, Really) OL Is Leading The Nation’s Most Explosive Unit

[perico]

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee left guard Jerome Carvin stared at quarterback Hendon Hooker and waited for the call as the Volunteers prepared to run a second-and-7 play from the Alabama 30-yard line. Carvin heard Hooker announce the play, but also picked up an unmistakable sound.

“I heard someone throwing up,” Carvin said.

Cooper Mays heard it, too. The Tennessee center turned and saw Alabama defensive lineman Byron Young and edge rusher Dallas Turner. Their eyes were huge. “When I saw their facial expressions, I looked back.” Mays turned to see Tennessee tackle J.J. Crawford finishing a horror-movie-quality projectile spew while nodding at a shocked Young. “What the camera doesn’t show is his face,” Mays said. “He threw up, and yeah he nodded, but the whole time he had this evil-ish grin.”

How Tennessee's nasty (no, really) offensive line is leading the nation's most explosive unit

 

[perico]

Not gonna post the entire article, but I loved this description of our linemen:


Before Heupel’s arrival, one of those linemen wasn’t sure he’d be able to reach the NFL. Wright came to Tennessee as a five-star recruit from Huntington, W.Va., in the Class of 2019. After two-plus seasons, Wright wasn’t sure he’d ever reach the level his recruiting rank predicted. During a meeting with Heupel, Wright suggested that he doubted he’d be able to play football past the college level. “He (Heupel) was kind of bewildered,” Wright said. “Because he saw something in me that I didn’t think was really there.”

Heupel, it turns out, was correct. Wright has been excellent all season, and no performance was better than what he turned in against star edge rusher Will Anderson in Tennessee’s 52-49 win against Alabama on Oct. 15. One week after Anderson spent the majority of the Texas A&M game in the lap of Aggies’quarterback Haynes King, Anderson barely breathed on Hooker.

Left tackle Gerald Mincey, whom Crawford was spelling in that Alabama game when he hurled, has exceeded expectations since transferring from Florida this past offseason. Mays grew up in a Tennessee family — his dad played for the Vols — and Cooper followed brother Cade, who started his career at Georgia but finished it at Tennessee before heading to the NFL. Carvin, a fifth-year senior from Memphis, finally became a full-time starter last season and has grown into one of the most respected players on the team. As befits his stature among the linemen, it is Carvin who mans the grill when the line gathers for a meal. Right guard Javontez Spraggins is the master of the stove. Spraggins, from East St. Louis, Ill., brought his Rotel dip recipe to East Tennessee. “Ground beef, shrimp, Velveeta block, tomato mix, nice amount of seasoning,” Spraggins said. “You keep it on the stove for about 30 minutes. The guys will have fun with that.”

 

[CAVPUT]

If our OL wins the LOS and our defense can just keep those UGA TE's from going off on us, I would think we might have a shot.

 

[Arrested Devolopment]

“What the camera doesn’t show is his face,” Mays said. “He threw up, and yeah he nodded, but the whole time he had this evil-ish grin.”

Boss move of the year.

 

[Dudleys87]

There’s something to be said about puking and still kicking ass..

 

[jaxvol]

Boss move of the year.