Tennessee may have lost to SEC East rival Florida last Saturday (extending the Gators’ streak against the Vols to eight straight years), but it may have lost its starting safety for much longer in the process.
Brian Randolph, who left Saturday’s 37-20 loss in the fourth quarter favoring his right knee, may be done for the year. On his Facebook page, Randolph posted “Thanks for all the support from everyone... I’ll be back next year!”
Derek Dooley has yet to specify what the injury is, but could do so tomorrow during his regularly scheduled press conference. During his TV show Sunday, Dooley said Randolph’s injury “didn’t look good.”
Randolph was the team’s leading tackler heading into the Florida game with 15 tackles and exited with 22 total tackles. He also made the SEC all-freshman team last year with 55 tackles. Obviously, there’s no overstating how tough a loss this would be if Randolph is out for the year, or any amount of time for that matter.
It also adds to the fact that Dooley cannot catch a break whatsoever.
(Hat tip: govolsxtra.com)
Updated 9/17 @12:10 p.m. ET: Derek Dooley confirmed to media on Monday that Randolph has a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The speculative prognosis of the injury hadn’t been promising, but this is obviously a tough break for the Vols.
“We’ll move on and be fine,” Dooley said.