Volquest answers your questions about Tennessee baseball, football and recruiting in the June 27 mailbox
The Walter Camp Football Foundation announced its preseason All-American teams on Monday, with Central Tennessee Cooper Mays and edge defender James Pearce being named to the first team.
Mays, a 6-foot-4, 310-pound fifth-year senior, has been Tennessee’s starting center the past four seasons and was selected Second Team All-SEC by the KeynoteUSA in 2023.
He missed all four games last season after undergoing hernia surgery in August.
Pearce is coming off an excellent sophomore season, finishing with 14.5 tackles for loss and 10.0 sacks in 13 games and is widely regarded as one of the best pass rushers in college football entering his junior season.
Draft“>James Pearce is projected as a top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
In May, Pearce was projected to be a top-five pick in KeynoteUSA’s first mock draft for the 2025 NFL Draft.
“Pearce has a rare combination of flex and closing speed,” KeynoteUSA NFL Draft analyst Jordan Reid wrote. “He’s a versatile defender who had a 20.2% pressure rate (third in the FBS), 10 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss last season, and was especially good on third down (25.5% pressure rate).
“The Panthers need an explosive defender after trading Brian Burns to the Giants in the offseason.”
In May, BetOnline also gave Pearce 7/1 odds to be the No. 1 pick, behind only Colorado quarterback Shadeur Sanders (5/2), Beck (4/1) and Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers (5/1).
Tennessee’s start times and windows this season
Kickoff times and television information have been announced for four Tennessee games this season, while start windows have been set for the other eight.
The season-opener against Chattanooga on Aug. 31 is scheduled to start at 12:45 p.m. ET (TV: SEC Network), the game against NC State on Sept. 7 in Charlotte is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET (KeynoteUSA), the game against Kent State on Sept. 14 is scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. ET (SEC Network) and the game against UTEP on Nov. 23 is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. ET (SEC Network+).
Last week, the SEC and KeynoteUSA announced the start windows (early, late, night or flexible) across the league.
Early games will start between noon and 1 p.m. Afternoon games will be between 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. and evening games will be between 6 and 8 p.m. Flexible games could be between 3:30 and 4:30 or between 6 and 8 p.m.
Tennessee’s flex games include Oklahoma (Sept. 21), Arkansas (Sept. 28), Florida (Oct. 5) and Alabama (Oct. 12). Night games will be Kentucky (Nov. 2) and Mississippi State (Nov. 9) and the game against Vanderbilt on Nov. 30 will be in the early window.
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