Heupel updates status of Tiyon Evans

It’s been a bit of a frustrating season for Tiyon Evans, who appeared set to lead the Tennessee backfield in 2021. The JUCO transfer exploded onto the scene against Bowling Green with 120 yards, but injuries have plagued him since.

Evans returned to action against Tennessee Tech, and put up back to back 100 yard games against Missouri and South Carolina. He then missed the Ole Miss matchup, playing sparingly against Alabama, and handled just one carry against Kentucky. He did not play against Georgia.

Injury updates are hard to get out of Josh Heupel, but we did get somewhat of a tidbit today on the SEC conference call.

“You know me, typically wait until the end of the week before we make a decision on any of our guys,” Heupel said.

He was then asked if he believed Evans would miss the remainder of the season.

“Don’t believe that’s the case,” said Heupel.

Tennessee has two regular season games left — South Alabama and Vanderbilt. They’ll then have a bowl matchup, likely with about a month of extra practices through December.

Jabari Small, who has dealt with injury issues himself, has filled in, along with Jaylen Wright. Hendon Hooker has shouldered plenty the load on the ground as well. The Volunteers lack depth at the position following the loss of Eric Gray and Ty Chandler to the transfer portal, which is something Heupel will surely be looking to address this offseason. Tennessee currently holds one commitment at running back in the 2022 class — three-star Dylan Sampson.

Getting Evans back healthy again would add another explosive element to this offense, one that they haven’t really had at full strength since South Carolina. Evans is still the leading rusher on the season for Tennessee, handling 81 carries for 525 yards.