All-Freshman Team 4-Star Experts From Tennessee Steps Into….
Tennessee Specialist Lands On SEC All-Freshman Team….
On Thursday afternoon, Tennessee punter Jackson Ross was selected to the SEC All-Freshman Team. Only one Volunteer, Ross, made it to the All-Freshman.
Ross struggled mightily in the Vols’ opening two games of the season, but in 12 games, he punted for 2,053 yards on 48 punt attempts (42.8 YPP). Ross finished third nationally among rookie punters and sixth in the SEC with a punt average of 42.8 yards.
Tennessee was also able to restrict punt returns at a very high rate thanks to the rugby punting technique of the Melbourne, Australia native. Throughout the entire season, the Vols gave up very few punt return yards and zero long returns.
During the previous season, Ross made a big play for Tennessee in several games, most notably against Texas A&M when Dee Williams stopped a Ross punt at the Aggies’ one-yard line. Williams gave Tennessee a lead it never gave up four plays later when he returned a Texas A&M punt for a touchdown.
Tennessee downed 18 of Ross’ 48 punts inside the 20-yard line during his redshirt freshman season.
Ross punted five times for 266 yards in Tennessee’s loss to Alabama, including a career-long 71 yards. With at least five punts, the 53 yards per punt set a new program record for a single game.
The Vols had three players land on the two All-SEC teams earlier this week: defensive end James Pearce Jr, running back Jaylen Wright and center Cooper Mays.
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Tennessee makes top five for junior-college defensive lineman
A junior-college defensive lineman who’s planning to visit Tennessee soon released a short list of favorites Thursday that includes the Vols
Tennessee is on the short list of contenders for a junior-college defensive lineman who’s planning to visit the Vols next week. Class of 2024 defensive lineman Jamal Wallace of Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif., announced his top five college choices in a post on his X account, and Tennessee is the lone SEC school among his current favorites.
Houston, Memphis, Utah State and USF joined the Vols in the group of front-runners for the 6-foot-4, 269-pound Wallace, who’s planning to take an official visit to Tennessee the weekend of Dec. 15. In October, he told GoVols247 that the Vols were at the top of his list, at least partly because “Tennessee was actually my dream school” even before the Vols started recruiting him.
Wallace is set to travel to USF this weekend for an official visit with the Bulls before heading to Tennessee the weekend before Early Signing Day. He has already taken official visits to North Texas, Houston and Utah State.
Wallace, who attended Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Mo., before going the junior-college route, said Tennessee caught his attention because of former Vols star safety Eric Berry. Wallace, a former high school safety, naturally was drawn to Berry, who played for the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. Wallace liked Berry even more after hearing former Tennessee cornerback Inky Johnson talk about Berry.
“I became a fan of (Berry) after I heard a story that was told about him,” Wallace said. “(Johnson) told a story about Tennessee, and then about Eric Berry, and that all just fell into place. But I didn’t know about Eric Berry until he got to the Chiefs, and then his whole background. Then, I found out.”
Wallace said he likes that the Vols were “one game away” from making the College Football Playoff last year.
“Now there are 12 teams that can go to the playoffs next year, so I feel like that’d be exciting for me to be able to go to the playoffs with them if I choose Tennessee,” he said.