Dan Fleser
Dayne Davis took a drive through the upper East Tennessee countryside on Sunday. The trek was purposeful, not one of leisure. The scenery was more sobering than picturesque.
Tennessee’s redshirt senior offensive lineman, who is from Bluff City, Tenn., stopped by the Parks & Recreation offices in Elizabethton to drop off $4,500 worth of groceries and other essentials. The money was raised through a GoFundMe account Davis set up for disaster relief there and Western Carolina in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Davis also traveled to Neva, a town tucked deep into the state’s northeast corner near Mountain City. Davis estimated his travel time there to be at least 2½ hours. The country roads sent him through some sorrow to get where he was going.
The family of one of Davis’ best friends owns a farm in that neck of the woods. Four houses on the property were swept away by a creek that was weaponized by too much rainfall.
“You’re just driving up the mountain and you look off of the side of the road and there is a car wrapped around a tree,” Davis said. “There’s a house that’s been completely ripped off its platform.”
While recounting this portion of his trip, Davis paused once to gather himself.
“There’s a lot of people up there that need help,” he said. “It’s just really sad to see what’s come to the region, so I’m just trying to use my platform to help those people back home. If there are people out there that are able to donate, there are people that really need it.”
Davis told the story of his Sunday during a media interview on Monday. Before making his pitch for donations, the veteran player was assessing the fallout from the Vols’ 19-14 loss at Arkansas.
It’s quite a stretch to go from breaking down the blocking involved in a college football game to describing a journey into some harrowing real-life fallout. When considered in the broadest emotional sense, however, the subjects are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Tennessee football is an important part of many lives in these parts and the games can serve as a welcome diversion, especially at times like these.
So, Davis’ platform also involves added support for teammate Nico Iamaleava on Saturday night versus Florida. There ought to be more Vols than Davis pitching in after Tennessee’s redshirt freshman quarterback threw for just 156 yards against the Razorbacks. Forty-two of those yards came on one completion to Dont’e Thornton Jr. that was more of a desperation throw than a pinpoint pass during UT’s final drive.
“The quarterback position takes 10 other guys around you playing at a high level,” UT coach Josh Heupel said. The former QB said that realizing the position always will experience a singular sort of scrutiny. The feeling is even lonelier when, in this case, the man in Iamaleava’s mirror has joined the review.
“As you can imagine, Nico was pretty torn up, trying to put a lot of blame on himself,” tight end Miles Kitselman said.
The blockers make up a majority of those other guys around Iamaleava. There could be as many as seven, depending on UT’s formation. The strength in those numbers was insufficient against Arkansas, however. Kitselman, who pulls double duty as a blocker and receiver, said the Razorbacks deployed a defense that the Vols had never seen before. Davis, who has played in 44 games during his career and logged 75 snaps this season against Oklahoma, said the defensive front was not something they hadn’t blocked before. Well, they struggled to block it anyway, even when they had the opposing rushers outnumbered. As a result, Iamaleava was sacked four times.
He indicated afterward that the sacks didn’t faze him. But the hits perhaps affected his composure. The final three plays consisted of Iamaleava bobbling the football twice sandwiched around not seeing running back Dylan Sampson slipping out of the backfield and running downfield wide open.
Heupel second-guessed himself for not calling a timeout after Thornton’s catch, which preceded those plays. It was the coach’s way of saying he also needs to be performing at a high level on behalf of his quarterback
After a precocious start to the season, Iamaleava last Saturday looked more like someone who was making his sixth career start. The regression doesn’t change the fact that he still possesses the greatest upside among his offensive peers. It will be hard for him to reach his potential, though, if he keeps getting knocked down.
If the Vols are able, Iamaleava really could use some help right now.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who has covered University of Tennessee athletics since 1988. He is a member of the Tennessee Sportswriters, U.S Basketball Writers and Greater Knoxville Sports Halls of Fame. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.