We don’t know much but this much we do know: Tennessee football had a second scrimmage. It was Friday. It was closed to the media. Secrets were protected.

Coach Josh Heupel was guarded in what he said he saw. He did use the word “excited.” He mentioned some progress, some back and forth, good work on special teams.

Try to write a headline about that summation.

Coach said he wants to see more overall growth before the opener.

We know who, what, when and where that is – against Syracuse, noon kickoff, August 30, in Atlanta.

Heupel hinted that the passing game was better than in the first scrimmage.

“Good day today. Mike (Matthews) made some big plays down the field… tight ends made some plays… early in the scrimmage, we moved the ball well.”

Loud noise was piped in to make communication challenges more realistic.

Thoughts on quarterbacks?

“I thought both of them handled themselves extremely well.”

Coach was apparently talking about Joey Aguilar and Jake Merklinger.

He added, “George (MacIntyre) did as well.”

Heupel said the QBs have made recent strides.

“I like what they all have done. They’ve competed in a positive way with each other in the meeting room and on the practice field. I think this team believes in that group of guys, who they are, how they lead and how they compete.

“Been good decision-makers and have continued to grow, in the understanding of what we’re doing, defense structure and then fundamentally, consistently being accurate with the football today. They handled that pretty well throughout the course of the scrimmage.”

So, how about Aguilar?

“I think he’s got better from Day 1, really every single day, the comfort and control. He’s handled himself extremely well during our night walk-throughs which is mental focus, mental sweat, and because of that, he’s extremely comfortable in what we’re doing right now.”

Coach, what do you want to see from whoever the starting quarterback is?

“At the end of the day, that guy’s got to be able to manage the football. That’s your sideline communication. It’s play-clock situations, game-clock situations. We do a lot of work on that. Controlling your offense – the run game, pass game, it’s RPO (run-pass option), it’s protections. You want to see those guys master it and take you out of negative plays and also put yourself in a position to create big plays.”

Sophomore RB DeSean Bishop

Senior RB Star Thomas

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Unofficial insight, second-hand, supposedly provided by select donors and former Vols, indicates Aguilar is the quarterback-to-be.

Defensive tackle Daevin Hobbs is out indefinitely with a foot injury. Wide receivers Chris Brazzell, Braylon Staley and Radarious Jackson missed the scrimmage. For a change, potential star Mike Matthews participated and contributed – including a big gain on a long-ball catch.

Missed practice time by starting receivers is alarming to some. Quarterbacks know the wideouts’ names but have not established proper coordination on routes and reads.

Take it to the bank, the tight ends can play. Freshman DaSaahn Brame is coming on.

The offensive line was better than before, in the run game and pass protection. Sam Pendleton again got the most first-team snaps at center. That probably means Jesse Perry wins the right guard job.

Heupel has said running back depth is the best he has had here. It shows.

Joshua Josephs scrimmaged some at the LEO position, but Jordan Ross was in most of the time with the first defense

Edrees Farooq is making gains toward a starting safety opportunity. Boo Carter got on the field, with the third-team defense.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com