Tennessee Volunteers College Football Pregame Quote, 11/13/2023

Guys came in this morning, and you could see the disappointment on their face still. There is an opportunity to learn from it as we watch the tape. At the end of the day, some of the things we talked about going into the game, we didn’t do. We have to play smarter football, in particular on the offensive side of the football. You look at the drives, most of them ended with a major penalty that puts you in second and extra-long or first and extra-long, and the turnovers on the plus side of the territory as well. So, a lot to learn from. At the same time, you have to wash it whether you win or lose, and you have to move on to the next one. We have a great opponent coming to town this week. You look at Georgia, they play extremely well ‚Äî smart football, physical football in all three phases of the game. They have dynamic playmakers in all three phases of the game as well. So, it is a huge test for us, and we have to have a great week of preparation to get ready for these guys. It’s the first time we have been back home for an SEC game inside Neyland Stadium in over a month. Looking forward to our fans, seeing them there on Saturday. We need a great atmosphere. Dolly (Parton) is going to be there as well, so my mom will be excited about that one.

On fixing the amount of penalties the team commits:

Some of it is personal accountability. Some of it, you look at some of the penalties on the offensive side of the football, the playing penalties. It comes down to fundamentals and technique and body position. You do those things right, and you have an opportunity to not have some of those things happen. You have to be smart at the end of a play as well.

On how strict their practice officials call penalties in preparation for a game:

They pay attention to everything that is going on. They are there for a reason. The way you finish plays in practice isn’t necessarily the same as a game.

On the run game against Mizzou and how they can get it going again against Georgia:

Part of it is the way the game ended and the type of scenario that you are playing out, but a bunch of it is us doing a great job with communication, fundamentals, running backs pressing the hole and doing a good job of reading things too. It was a combination of all those things the other night.

On Dee Williams having flexibility with how he approaches kickoff returns:

We have an idea of what we are doing before we go out there, but based on the kick too, there should be a decision that is made during the course of the play as well.

On if playing against the No. 1 team in Neyland helps the team put the Missouri result behind them:

I think no matter what you do the previous week, you have to put the game behind you. Certainly, we understand the quality of the opponent that is coming to town this week. Our guys understand who they are, what they are about and the way they are going to play. It will be a great test for us.

On wide receivers stepping up after WR Dont’e Thornton Jr.’s injury:

Dont’e will be out for the remainder of the regular season. We’ll see where we’re at as we get into postseason play. Young guys, there were some real positive things that they did during the course of the game. Chas Nimrod, Kaleb Webb, all in all, I liked a majority of what they did.

On how much he has to change offensively to compensate for injuries:

You’re always going to subtly change your scheme based on what you’re seeing structure-wise and personnel-wise on the other side. You always try to put those guys in a position where they can go win. In this one, there’s a bunch of one-on-ones. It’s going to be tight, contested coverage out on the outside. At the end of the day, they’re going to have to win some of those battles.

On his assessment of LB Elijah Herring:

The other day, I thought he got his eyes just caught in the wrong place on a couple of his reads. Missed a couple open-field tackles, but he did some good things as well. He’s a young player that has to continue to grow. He didn’t play extremely well on Saturday afternoon.

On Georgia’s personnel this year compared to last:

They have really good players across the board. Defensively, thick, strong and athletic up front. They can run. They cover extremely well on the backend. They don’t miss tackles. You see them in close quarters and in open space, they tackle extremely well. Offensively, they’ve got dynamic playmakers. A few of those guys are just getting back and getting truly healthy right now, but the quarterback is playing extremely well. Really efficient, been accurate. He’s done a really nice job.

On if Dolly Parton’s presence will put pressure on the team:

Anytime Dolly’s hanging around it certainly adds pressure, absolutely, to our performance. For Tennesseans, that’s one that everybody will enjoy seeing.

On DB Jourdan Thomas’s performance at Mizzou and an update on Tamarion McDonald:

I thought Jourdan did some positive things, was destructive and made some plays out on the perimeter. T-Mac (Tamarion McDonald) got nicked up early in the football game. I do believe that he’ll have an opportunity to be ready for this one.

On what Missouri was doing to prevent the Vols defense from getting off the field on third down:

Inability to get off the field, part of that was the quarterback extending and making plays with his feet, running, also scrambling and getting outside of the pocket. For us, you have to do a good job of applying pressure to him, too. You can’t let him sit back there all day. But he broke contain on us. That was disappointing. Some of our choice games, our contained player didn’t get there. He got out up through the middle of the football field one or twice, too. We’ve got to do a better job. That’ll be big in this one too, and we’ve got to match things out on scramble drill.”

On what he meant when he said he was disappointed in how the team finished at Missouri:

Just the last couple of drives. Going back and watching it, a lot of them did continue to play hard. I just didn’t think we played very smart at the end of it. We’re disappointed in that.