Prep Time Has Been Beneficial For Injured Vols

 When Tennessee hits EverBank Field on Friday afternoon to take on Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl, it will be 34 days since the Vols last played a football game.

Coach Butch Jones said Tuesday those nearly five full weeks of healing time will be a major benefit to the Vols.

"Some individuals are still nursing some nagging injuries, where some other players have really benefitted from some time off," Jones said after the team’s second day of practice at the University of North Florida. "I do think, overall, our team speed has improved, but it's a case-by-case situation."

On offense, Jones pointed to the tailbacks gaining much needed rest which will have a major impact for Friday's game.

"I think, first of all, our running back position," said Jones. "Jalen Hurd continues to play more and more confidently. You can see the confidence, the speed, he's able to play instinctively now. Marlin Lane benefitted from some extra time off."

Defensive coordinator John Jancek said the Vols youth and lack of experience throughout the year pushed the defense to the limits late in the regular-season. The time off has been a major plus for the Orange Swarm.

"Our lack of depth throughout the season and the volume of reps that the starters had to take, we certainly needed a bit of a breather," said Jancek. "Once we completed that last ball game, I think they've done a good job of taking care of their bodies. They had a good practice yesterday. We just have to wrap it up here this last couple of opportunities to get ready for this bowl game."

Both Jones and Jancek said that if the Vols had to play a game the week following their win at Vanderbilt on Nov. 29, junior linebacker and leader Curt Maggitt would not have been able to play.

"Curt Maggitt, if we had to play the game after Vanderbilt, he wouldn't have been able to play," said Jones. "So I think the extensive time he has had off has helped him. I think it's been really beneficial for our entire team."

Some players didn't want to rest over Christmas break, but Jones made sure to put a stop to one of his wideouts aggressive nature – at least for a few days.

"Von Pearson is another individual," Jones said. "We had to have a little talk, though, through the value of watching Twitter is he goes home for Christmas and works out and he's running. So I was able to get to him and say `Rest your body.' "

In addition to getting the extended rest for the players, offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian talked about how having a month to prepare for one opponent is a huge advantage when it comes to scheming.

"I wish I'd had a month to prepare for every game," said Bajakian. "You can really get detailed and you can really rep a lot of the different looks that you anticipate seeing, whereas in the course of a game week, sometimes you're crunched for time.

"You're introducing concepts but you might not necessarily be able to rep them versus all of the possible looks. You need, again, a mature team in the course of a normal game week prep which can adjust and adapt. Well now, it's just given us the advantage of being able to prepare for all of the different looks."

Sophomore quarterback Joshua Dobbs infused the Vols late in the season as they finished 3-1 on the way to earning their first bowl bid since 2010. Bajakian is happy with the leadership role Dobbs has taken on, knowing the job under center is his.

"He's also taking command," Bajakian said. "He has taken ownership of the leadership that is necessary to be the guy, the alpha male as we like to call him."

Tennessee is averaging 35.0 points per game and racking up 424.3 yards of offense in Dobbs’ four starts. Overall, in five games this season, Dobbs has compiled 1,470 total yards of offense (294.0 per game) and is responsible for 14 touchdowns (eight passing and six rushing). Dobbs has thrown just five interceptions.

"He's done a good job of managing the offense and limiting the turnovers," said Bajakian. "I think that's key. Obviously, we are talking complementary football with offense, defense and special teams, playing the field position game and limiting turnovers. Obviously, we're always going to improve upon that and any interception or any turnover is too many."

The starter at middle linebacker is still up for grabs as Friday nears. True freshman Jakob Johnson, who has started the last two games at the position at competing with sophomore Kenny Bynum. Both played high school ball in Jacksonville and will have chance to play in front of friends and family in the bowl game. Johnson spent his senior year at Jean Ribault after moving to America from his native Stuttgart, Germany, while Bynum is a Jacksonville native.

"They've competed well," said Jancek. "They've pushed each other. They're both in there doing the best that they can. I know they're excited to be back in their home city and play in front of probably some friends and family.

"They'll both play. It'll just be a matter of how many plays in a row the offense can generate. Those will come into play during the game as far as how we sub."

On Monday, Iowa offensive coordinator Greg Davis said the Hawkeyes will play two quarterbacks in Friday's TaxSlayer Bowl. Junior Jake Rudock and sophomore C.J. Beathard will share time at least in the first and second quarters Davis told the media. A starter has not been announced, and Davis said the decision will be made by head coach Kirk Ferentz.

How does Iowa's dual-quarterback system impact the Vols' preparation on defense? Jones said the Vols game plan won't change much based on who is under center for the Hawkeyes.

"We will be prepared for both," said Jones. "Again, they are going to run what they run and there is a reason why they have been successful. They have systems in place. They are an older veteran football team so their players they are able to redshirt their players and their players grow up in their systems."

Rudock has a 14-10 record as a starter and has started the last seven games for Iowa. In Beathard's only start on Sept. 27, the Hawkeyes beat Purdue, 24-10.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)