Tennessee RB Jalen Hurd Maturing at the Right Time for Butch Jones' Vols

Tennessee survived the tricky early part of their season, going 2-0, but now things get interesting. The Vols will head to Norman, Oklahoma, on Saturday night to take on the Oklahoma Sooners in a game that will serve as a gauge for this year's Vols.

Are they back? Can this team be competitive? Just how far off are they?

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On the ground, they're close. A big reason why—quite literally—is 6'3", 227-pound true freshman running back Jalen Hurd. The Hendersonville, Tennessee, native only rushed for 29 yards in the season-opening win over Utah State but picked it up in the win over Arkansas State, rushing 23 times for 83 yards and a touchdown en route to SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

Hurd's improvement between Weeks 1 and 2 was noticeable.

"Jalen's progressed a lot," quarterback Justin Worley said in quotes released by Tennessee. "You may not see the yards per carry that he wants [and] that we want as an offense, but he gets those tough yards. He's done a great job of really embracing his role in protections and understanding week in, week out, where the different pressures are coming from."

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Hurd's head coach Butch Jones agreed, which is why Hurd received the majority of the carries vs. the Red Wolves last week.

"We just play who is running the ball well, and we thought Jalen gave us a great opportunity," Jones said in the postgame quotes. "I thought Jalen got some tough yardage. I thought he hit the hole. Jalen runs hard."

The time between the first and second game of the season is when players improve the most, and Hurd is a prime example of that. So much so that Jones had no qualms about letting Hurd set the tone for the Vols.

That's great timing not only for Hurd, but for the Vols.

Tennessee's running game is still rather inconsistent—it ranks 11th in the SEC (139 YPG)—but there's some momentum building as the team prepares for its showdown with the Sooners Saturday night. That's big because, while tempo is part of Tennessee's goal on offense, pounding the rock and maintaining possession is probably a good idea—especially on the road.

Oklahoma has racked up a whopping 508 yards and 50 points per game in its first two games of the season, and Jones knows that their balance makes them difficult to stop.

"It's very difficult," he said during Monday's press conference. "They do a great job of balance, and also within that balance their scheme presents you problems because all of a sudden they go from an internal run to a play action deep post to all of a sudden a perimeter screen and you couple that with their athletes and their tempo and their size. It's a great challenge."

Hurd, and the Vols running game, can make it less challenging for the Vols' defense.

The Vols have weapons at wide receiver, but the absence of wide receiver Von Pearson—who's out with a high ankle sprain—takes away one of the primary weapons in that loaded receiving corps. That may shift more emphasis to the running game, and Hurd proved in his second college game that he can handle more responsibility. 

Tennessee will need it this week in Norman because Oklahoma is no joke.

Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report and co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.

Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of CFBStats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.