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Marquez North of Tennessee makes a catch while under pressure from Arkansas State's Andrew Tryon.KNOXVILLE - Although his freshman season contained a healthy 38 catches, Tennessee receiver Marquez North reached the end zone only one time a year ago.
He topped that touchdown total Saturday, as the sophomore from Charlotte had scoring catches of 10 and 14 yards from Justin Worley during the 34-19 win over Arkansas State. The 6-foot-4, 221-pound North finished with four catches for 68 yards, with both of his scores coming on fade routes.
"I made some big plays in training camp, so I guess I earned a lot of trust," North said. "Plus, there is chemistry [with Worley] off the field. We are really close and go out to eat a lot."
North led the Volunteers with 496 receiving yards last season and was named to the Freshman All-SEC team. He had a season-high seven catches at Missouri and a season-high 102 yards against South Carolina, when his one-handed grab for 39 yards led the Vols to a 23-21 upset.
His one touchdown last year occurred in the overtime loss to Georgia.
"Marquez has done a great job in practice throughout all fall camp of going up and getting balls in the end zone," Worley said, "and it was good to see that transition from the practice field to the game. Marquez is 6-3 or 6-4, and their corners were 5-10 or 5-11, so you see that height advantage and you're licking your chops sometimes."
More Vols injured
Six days after Tennessee starting left tackle Jacob Gilliam was lost for the season with a torn ACL, two other key offensive contributors were injured against Arkansas State.
Junior receiver Von Pearson suffered what looked to be a foot or ankle injury early in the second quarter, and freshman tight end Ethan Wolf sustained a knee injury in the third quarter. Coach Butch Jones said he should know more about the two injuries today.
"Having those two guys go down definitely hurts," Worley said. "I don't know the extent of them or however long it may last, but to have guys come in and make plays as well shows that we're not lacking skill level anymore."
Thundering Hurd
Tennessee freshman tailback Jalen Hurd rushed 23 times for 83 yards and notched his first collegiate rushing score from 4 yards out late in the first quarter, which put the Vols ahead to stay at 10-6. Hurd had 10 more carries Saturday than senior starter Marlin Lane, after each had 11 in the opener.
"You guys need to stop looking into that stuff," Jones said. "We just play who's running the ball well, and we thought Jalen gave us a great opportunity. I thought he got some good yardage, and I thought he hit the hole.
"Jalen runs hard, and it was just the flow of the game as far as who you put in there. It doesn't matter whether it's him or Marlin or Devrin Young, we want to run the football."
Hurd said his first rushing score felt great, and Worley complimented the freshman's ability to quickly embrace pass protections.
Special help needed
Senior linebacker A.J. Johnson caused a fumble last week on special teams, but Jones is looking for more help in football's third phase.
"There are a number of times we have too many starters on defense playing on our kick-coverage teams," he said, "so we have to get that corrected and have some individuals to step up. It's the reality of building a football program. It's also a sense of urgency with some other players in that you have to get ready and you have no choice.
"Everyone has a role and a responsibility on this football team. We'll continue to work to improve our special teams, but we need more people contributing than we have right now. We have some people who want that opportunity. Now it's time to take advantage of it."
Two players taking advantage Saturday were fifth-year senior Jacob Carter, who replaced cornerback Cameron Sutton returning punts and had a 21-yard return, and redshirt sophomore kicker George Bullock. With kicker Aaron Medley and punter Matt Darr showing up to practice this past week with sprained ankles, Bullock handled all seven kickoffs against the Red Wolves and had two touchbacks.
Not out for long
Redshirt junior safety Brian Randolph was out of the starting lineup Saturday -- junior LaDarrell McNeil and freshman Todd Kelly Jr. were the starters -- and Jones said afterward that Randolph had been "nicked up" in the opener. Jones said the plan was for Randolph to be available "in case of an emergency," and that emergency occurred when Arkansas State took its first possession 40 yards in six plays for a touchdown.
Randolph was in during ASU's second series and wound up tallying six tackles and a pass breakup.
"We needed a veteran back there," Jones said. "He's the veteran spokesperson back there and gets everyone lined up. We needed that comforting force."
Tennessee tidbits
The Vols improved to 2-0 all-time against Arkansas State and 8-0 against teams from the Sun Belt Conference. ... The Liberty Bowl had a representative in the Neyland Stadium press box for a second straight week. ... Redshirt freshman left tackle Brett Kendrick made his first career start. ... Former Tennessee receivers coach Trooper Taylor is Arkansas State's cornerbacks coach, and his son, freshman corner Blaise Taylor, had a tackle and a punt return.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.