Tennessee defensive lineman Jordan Williams (54) gets fans to yell during warmups in Knoxville in this file photo.KNOXVILLE - Steve Stripling has been forced into the situation prior this season.
For the better part of Tennessee's nine games, the Volunteers have had to rely primarily on a three-player rotation of Jordan Williams, Danny O'Brien and Owen Williams at defensive tackle due to one injury and a lack of experienced and reliable depth at the position.
"We call it a pair and a spare," Stripling, Tennessee's veteran defensive line coach, said after Wednesday's practice.
What do you call it when two of the trio are playing through fairly significant injuries?
Jordan Williams, the gritty senior who was an outside linebacker at one point in his career, suffered a broken wrist against Ole Miss last month. Junior college transfer Owen Williams underwent thumb surgery in early October that forced him to miss all of one game and most of another. Both are playing in casts.
"I guess that makes me the only healthy defensive tackle," O'Brien joked after Tuesday's practice.
"You get beat up a little bit in the trenches."
Especially when you're playing as much as these three tackles are.
Against South Carolina in Tennessee's last game, Jordan Williams played 77 snaps, an absurdly high number for a defensive lineman.
"Shoot, DBs play that," he quipped. "D-linemen don't play that."
Stripling even admitted he's "always a little surprised at the numbers" his linemen are playing, but given the current state of the roster, there's not much else in the way of other options.
"The inside guys take such a wear and tear, so it's hard," he said. "Those two guys both have broken hands in casts, and that's hard job when you've got a broken hand. I'm getting on them to stick their hands in there and stuff, and it just shows a lot from the kids, that they're really into it and they're willing to do whatever's necessary.
"You obviously hope every that defensive tackle has (toughness), but you don't really ever know how young men play through injuries until they actually get one and you can see how they react."
Trevarris Saulsberry took some of the load off the trio during a five-game stretch after returning from a knee injury he suffered in the preseason, but he was hurt again against Alabama two games ago.
Defensive end Jaylen Miller has gotten snaps at tackle here and there in pass-rush situations. Freshman Dimarya Mixon also has gotten some limited work. Tennessee will go to more of a 3-3-5 look, particularly on third downs, where it will sub pass-rushing linebacker Chris Weatherd in place of one of the tackles.
Still, its the two Williamses and O'Brien carrying the heaviest burden. The three have 46 tackles, seven for loss and three sacks between them. Tennessee is just 79th nationally in rushing defense, and not surprisingly three of the four highest rushing totals surrendered by the Vols have come in the past three games, as the wear and tear has accumulated.
"I don't know how long that stretch of games was before the bye week, but it definitely was wearing on us a little bit," Jordan Williams said. "The bye week came just in time. Right now, Coach (Butch) Jones says we've got a three-game playoff, and that bye week came just in time.
"My body was feeling a little bit beat-up, and I was a little bit sluggish, but I've got the bye week, got some rest and I'm feeling great right now."
The numbers aside, the toughness the three tackles have shown is admirable.
"I think it says a lot," O'Brien said. "We've got a tough group of guys in our defensive line. Coach Strip always says the toughest position to play in football is defensive tackle, and I think we've really stepped up and withstood everything that's came against us.
"Everybody at the beginning of the season was talking about how we're undersized ... and all that kind of stuff, but I think we've kind of shut a lot of those people up, because we work hard and we have the right mindset and we wanted to prove people wrong, and I think we have."
Entering the final three games of the season, Stripling is hoping Mixon continues to develop and Kendal Vickers, a 6-foot-3, 262-pound redshirt freshman who's slid inside from end, can continue "to show up and surprise everybody" enough in practice to earn some snaps on Saturdays.
The more likely case is Tennessee continuing to rely on the same trio on which it's depended all season.
"We love the D-line, we love the trenches and we love Tennessee," Jordan Williams said, "so we're going to do anything we can to stay on the field and keep being productive."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.