3rd Saturday in Blogtober

Tennessee’s preseason camp last 31 days, though that month of the August seemed like it lasted 300 days.

I got to be there to cover all but a few of those, so I know how slowly time crept along, and how I swear I wrote stories on just about every single player on the team (and some twice).

So after all the Tennessee football program has been through since that now infamous Tuesday night in January, having a game to watch, talk and write about and move forward from was an excellent and welcomed change of pace.

But after all that time, what did we learn about Derek Dooley’s first team against UT Martin Saturday?

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Senior wide receiver Gerald Jones broke a bone in his hand when a UT-Martin defender stepped on it Saturday night, and he will miss at least the Oregon and Florida games, Vols coach Derek Dooley said Sunday.

Also, fellow senior WR Denarius Moore and most seasoned OL Jarrod Shaw are questionable for the Oregon game with injuries.

Moore and Shaw maybe will play, but the loss of the oft-injured Jones is a big blow. He is easily one of the two most productive UT receivers. This means that freshmen Justin Hunter and Da’Rick Rogers will be thrust into action immediately and must produce.

Just a big, big blow for the Vols. Jones also returns punts, so that’s going to be a big issue.

David Oku gets Feel-Good Night going in style [Photo: GVX]

As the Derek Dooley era began at the University of Tennessee tonight, I was sitting in my bedroom with one ear on the phone fussing at the DirectTV dude because the game was blacked out on Pay-Per-View and one hand tickling the feet of my three-day-old son to keep him alert enough for breastfeeding.

The thing that has become most evident to me in my first three days as a Daddy is: If your wife is breastfeeding, it’s like Atlanta traffic — you have to plan your ENTIRE day and night around it.

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Talking to a buddy of mine last night, we were discussing the Justin Hunter situation at Tennessee and I made the following comment:

“Man, I know this is coming from a Tennessee fan, and it’s affecting us right now, but I promise if this was happening at Alabama or USC or anywhere, I’d want the NCAA Clearinghouse to pass down a ruling one way or another. This is ridiculous. These kids’ lives are being put at the mercy of a group of people who quite obviously don’t have case evaluation at the top of their list. This already hurt Bama with Alfy Hill, it’s hurting SC with Jesse Scroggins and even Ole Miss with Jeremiah Masoli. It’s game week for goodness sake! Get on the freakin’ ball.”

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Will Baby Ghost whine as much as his daddy?

Sheesh. Talk about a hiatus. I just logged into 3rd Saturday in Blogtober, and the website actually asked me, “What the heck are you doing here? Long time, no see.”

I know it’s been a while since I’ve graced your presence with my omniscient knowledge on All Things College Football, and I’m sure you’ve missed me as much as I’ve missed you. Thankfully, there are a bunch of good writers/communicators on this blog who’ve been picking up my considerable slack. But I’ve actually got a pretty good excuse this time. You see, Mrs. Ghost is getting admitted to the hospital Tuesday night, and — if all goes according to plan — Jackson Howard Shepard will enter into this world sometime on Wednesday.

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Just thought I’d throw this out there. If Mike Hamilton gets out of the contract with North Carolina [which appears a foregone conclusion at this point], Mid-American Conference team Buffalo is rumored to fill that spot. No, Oskie, sorry … it’s not the Bills.

Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton told Volquest.com Monday night that the Vols are in discussions with the University of North Carolina to nix the home-and-home series with the Tar Heels in 2011 and ’12.

Just for clarification purposes, the Vols have tried to re-negotiate the contract for later in the decade, but UNC officials are uninterested in doing that, so UT is stuck as the one backing out of the series. We will pay the penalty and add a home game to our schedule for next season that will triple what we have to pay to get out of the contract. But we will take the egg on our proud program’s face and have to like it.

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In front of a large cluster of family and friends, J.L. Mann (S.C.) High safety Pat Martin made official what everybody has thought for months now: That he would play his college football in Knoxville.

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The prime focus of Tennessee’s 2010 recruiting class is offensive and defensive linemen, and the Vols received arguably the biggest commitment of Derek Dooley’s brief tenure today as Knoxville Catholic OL Kyler Kerbyson verbally committed to the Vols.

The 6-foot-5, 290-pound offensive lineman likely projects as a college guard and was one of the first few offensive linemen Dooley and the Vols offered. Offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney were also instrumental in Kerbyson’s recruitment. Along with OT/DT Antonio “Tiny” Richardson, OT/TE Cameron Clear and DB Derek King, Kerbyson was targeted by this coaching staff as an absolute must-get. UT also wanted DB Jabriel Washington, but the new staff was late to the party on his recruitment and Washington is a current Alabama commit.

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The first week of fall practice before Derek Dooley’s first season as Tennessee’s coach has been anything but uneventful.

And fortunately I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of it.

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