David Oku still hasn’t made it all the way to the house yet.
But the Tennessee kickoff returner is at least starting to get in the right neighborhood.
The struggling special teams are beginning to show signs of life and deliver the game-breaking plays Oku has been waiting for, and he nearly had one last Saturday against Memphis. He’s set his sights a little bit further than the 69 yards he covered against the Tigers, but coming up short might have given the freshman a better idea of what it will take to get in the end zone Saturday against Mississippi.
“I probably could have got it — I’ve got to work on conditioning a little more,” Oku said. “I got a little gassed, couldn’t make it close, but the field in college is a lot further than in high school.
“It feels like you’re running a 400 or something on the track trying to cut it all the way across the field. We’ll get one before the season is over.”
The Vols may be running out of time, but they’ve clearly shown some improvement in the return game lately.
There haven’t been as many issues fielding the ball, returners are generally making better decisions and receiving better blocking, but one thing is still missing. With or without a touchdown though, it’s no longer confidence.
“We’re really working hard towards that,” Oku said. “The returns are starting to come, and in terms of kickoff and kick return, I think it’s just about getting confidence. I think that’s what we’ve done so far, and it allows us to do a lot better at it because we have a lot of confidence.
“I think it’s more of just coming along, (special teams) coach (Eddie) Gran made a few changes to things, but I think it’s just about us basically finding our identity on special teams. You know, Coach (Lane) Kiffin said we found it on offense and defense, but we really never found it on special teams. I guess we’ve really found it now.”
The Vols are still looking for a few more pieces for its field-goal unit, including a healthy kicker. Penalties have been a problem on occasion lately as well, and touchbacks have been rare from specialist Chad Cunningham.
But UT might have definitively settled on a regular to handle kickoffs now.
“To me, I feel like we do have the confidence on special teams to get a lot more done and put coach Kiffin in better position to do whatever he wants in play-calling,” Oku said. “I think you just have to adjust to the game speed, and I wish it didn’t take that long, but sometimes you just have to be patient with things.”
With only three games left in the regular season, there’s a clear limit to how much patience Oku can have though.
Bumps And Bruises: The Vols were obviously short three players — with the arrest of freshmen Janzen Jackson, Mike Edwards and Nu’Keese Richardson — and have a handful of others out for the season, but heading into the weekend they’re about as healthy as they can be.
The only real concern for Kiffin on Thursday was Darren Myles and his hip and back injuries, but he practiced and could start at safety against the Rebels. Kicker Daniel Lincoln is also a bit of a question mark, but UT was already planning on waiting to find out his status until Saturday.
“(Lincoln) feels OK,” Kiffin said. “It’s going to be, once again, the same thing. We’re going to have to go Saturday see him kick and see how well he feels out there. … Those guys (Lincoln and Cunningham) have been up and down all year it seems like.
“Darren Myles moved around today, he was really the only big question mark and the rest of the guys are ready to roll.”
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Comments » 22
bigorange61 writes:
Good luck, David. The Vol faithful could use a pick me up right now. Take it to the house.
Wild_Berry_14 writes:
Man conditioning ROBBED him of a kick return last week... pun intended!
beatlecakes writes:
Your due Oku. Take one to the house!
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
A bit concerened with Janzen gone and Myles injured about Snead throwing on that secondary.
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
Snead can't throw sitting on his rump. Berry and Rogan can cover the deep threats, D-Line will get to Snead!
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
I can't believe that he said that! Gran will have him running 440s for weeks.
OTPVol writes:
Don't get it from Pilot...
Alwaysavol writes:
"...the field in college is a lot further than it is in high school."
Uh, no it isn't. Football fields in high school, college, and the pros are the same dimensions - 100 yards long by 53.33 yards wide.
Maybe we have identified part of the problem - our kick returners think they are running farther than they actually are!
Alwaysavol writes:
"...the field in college is a lot further than it is in high school."
Uh, no it isn't. Football fields in high school, college, and the pros are the same dimensions - 100 yards long by 53.33 yards wide.
Maybe we have identified part of the problem - our kick returners think they have to run farther than they actually do!
bigorange61 writes:
"...the field in college is a lot further than it is in high school."
Probably referring to a deeper kickoff therefore farther to run.
Present Tennessee kickers excluded of course.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
True.
Maybe Vol's only practice 12-17 yd returns.
Crank it up Saturday, Orange.
Mega game for future outlook.
nwcs writes:
Hopefully, in the spirit of competition, Oku will take advantage of the opportunity staring at him in the face for playing time with the knuckleheads off the team (in effect if not permanently).
BERRY_4_HEISMAN writes:
How long does it take a Quadricep muscle to mend? Come on Lincoln, quit trying to kick before it's completely healed...then kick the damn ball!!!
HollisPalmer61 writes:
Are you serious with this title?
richvol writes:
He just needs to visit South Carolina where he can get all the gas he needs pumped by none other than Spurriers boys.
givehim6 writes:
I was wondering, when was the last time a Vol brought a kick off back for six?
mbk10 writes:
He doesn't think the field is actually longer. I think what he means is it seems longer because guys in the SEC are as fast as he is and it is an absolute race the entire time he is running, he can't just break out of the pack and cruise to the endzone like he probably did in high school.
illinoisvolfan writes:
No kidding. It's one thing to use Oku's quote about being "gassed," it's another to go that route with the headline. Is KNS trying to be "punny" or putting its readers through "punishment?"
memphis_vol_fan writes:
Eric Berry.
memphis_vol_fan writes:
That and in high school he was probably fielding kicks at the 25 instead of 3 yards deep in the endzone.
joeaubie writes:
Sure. Glad you cleared that up for us.....
johnlg00#206211 writes:
True, they haven't had all that many sacks this year, but they have delivered a lot of good pressure and forced a lot of bad throws. Not that the team or staff was happy about it, surely you know that all those yards given up to Memphis were by 2d and 3d-teamers after the outcome had already been decided. If we beat Ole Miss by four TDs, no one is going to be worried about how many yards we gave up.
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