Strange: Rogan may give Vols vital shot of energy

At one position, Tennessee's football team needs a shot of energy. At another, it just needs a healthy body.

In both cases, Dennis Rogan to the rescue.

For those who have been clamoring to see more of the true freshman from Fulton High School, that reality is closer.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer announced Tuesday that Rogan will replace Jonathan Hefney as the top punt-returner Saturday.

Furthermore, a near-biblical plague of attrition leaves Rogan as the first sub at cornerback behind starters Brent Vinson and DeAngelo Willingham.

In fact, Rogan is the only sub at cornerback unless the Vols are willing to scuttle a redshirt season for another true freshman, Art Evans.

Rogan, being a freshman, is off limits to interviews, per Fulmer's policy. We assume he's excited about the prospect of an increased role. We certainly know that his legions of supporters on talk radio and the message boards are.

To date, Rogan has been seen returning four kickoffs for an average of 27 yards. He's played on other units in the kicking game and gotten in for a few snaps at safety.

Fulmer has long touted this freshman class for its "dynamics" and that was the word he used Tuesday to explain replacing a senior with a freshman on punt returns:

"We're looking for some dynamics.

"It's not that Jon has done anything that poorly. It's just we're kind of stuck in a spot and I want to shake it up.''

Rogan's dynamics at Fulton were the stuff of local legend. He scored an astounding 81 touchdowns for the Falcons. As a senior he set a state scoring record with 296 points.

As for Hefney, after two, uh, dynamic seasons as UT's punt-return specialist, he's averaging a piddling 6.4 yards this year. That's the second-lowest average of the Fulmer era. As a team, Tennessee ranks 73rd nationally.

When the season was young, the Vols were awful in multiple phases of the kicking game. To give credit where it's due, they've shored up the other loose ends. Punt returns have stubbornly remained unproductive.

"Other than the one really bad game where he went backward, Jon's been fine,'' Fulmer said. "But fine is not where we want to be.

"We want to get some dynamics going.''

Many of the dynamics going in the secondary have been of the negative variety, a by-product of inexperience.

By now, you've heard the list of missing persons claimed by injuries, academics and dismissals. The latest, sophomore Marsalous Johnson (knee surgery), leaves the Vols with this unlikely predicament:

Only four cornerbacks are on the depth chart and none of them was a member of the program a year ago.

Vinson is a true freshman with four starts. Willingham is a junior-college transfer with two starts.

Then there's Rogan and Evans. Rogan has never played a collegiate snap at corner. Evans has never played a snap.

That's what can happen when four cornerbacks and a starting safety disappear for various reasons.

"You recruit for your needs and concerns,'' said Fulmer, "but you can't completely plan for that. You can't think all that's going to happen.''

It did. If Rogan were to sub for Willingham at corner, he would join Vincent and starting safety Eric Berry as a third true freshman on the field together.

And given the knee-buckling number of snaps the defense has been on the field lately, Rogan will almost certainly see action Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.

"The knowledge is not there and the experience is not there,'' said defensive coordinator John Chavis, "but athletically, he can play corner or safety.''

If he could also make a tackler or two miss on a punt return, hey, nobody will be complaining.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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