KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 11/10 Tennessee got back in the win column last weekend with a gritty overtime victory over Florida in front of a raucous Neyland Stadium crowd and will look to keep things moving in the right direction this Saturday with another heated rivalry game on deck against No. 7/7 Alabama at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
“Another huge contest here for us,” head coach Josh Heupel said in his Monday press conference. “It’s a rivalry game and college football as good as it gets here with these two teams playing, so looking forward to seeing our fans on Saturday.
“We need a great week of practice and preparation. Really good football team that we’re playing, talented as everybody knows.”
Last Saturday’s win over the Gators featured another stout performance form the Volunteers’ stingy defense, which has been once of the nation’s best halfway through the season, allowing just 10.7 points per game, a mark that ranks fourth in the FBS. The Big Orange rank second in the country in total defense, as well, giving up only 249.8 yards per contest.
UT will need to continue its stellar defensive play this week despite the loss of one of its veteran leaders at linebacker in Keenan Pili, who left the Florida game early with a knee injury and will miss the remainder of the season, it was announced on Monday.
“Keenan — I said it after the (Florida) game — there’s nobody that represents Tennessee better than him,” Heupel said. “He’s a great leader and will continue to be that inside of our building. Just heartbroken for him and his family. A guy that does absolutely everything right, a special player but special person too. He’s got a great future.”
The Vols’ young linebackers proved more than up for the challenge against the Gators and will look to keep improving throughout the second half of the year.
“We’ve played some of those guys throughout the course of (the season) and have rotated there,” Heupel said about the linebacker position. “Feel good about all of those guys that you’ve seen in action already. (Kalib Perry) and (Jalen Smith), those guys will continue to play.”
Tennessee’s defense will be tasked with the difficult challenge of containing Alabama’s explosive attack that ranks fourth nationally in plays of 30-plus yard (22) and is led by Heisman contender Jalen Milroe at quarterback.
“He’s been extremely accurate with the football. He’s been a pretty sound decision-maker,” Heupel said. “While you’re trying to apply pressure to him, so these guys don’t have all day to run around on the second and third level, you have to be mindful and not let him escape. His athleticism, when he does escape, is special.”
Quotes from Monday’s availability with Heupel and select players can be seen below.
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“Another huge contest here for us. It’s a rivalry game and college football as good as it gets here with these two teams playing, so looking forward to seeing our fans on Saturday. We need a great week of practice and preparation. Really good football team that we’re playing, talented as everybody knows. (They have) the ability to make explosive plays on the offensive side of the football. It starts with their quarterback, him being part of the run game and playmakers out on the outside. Defensively, personnel wise, they look like they always do. Big and strong up front, the second level can run, and the third level is extremely athletic. Huge test for us. We have to continue to get better and get ready to go play really good football.”
On his assessment of the offensive film from the Florida game…
“Certainly, there are big plays out there they we’re a little bit off on. But even just the run game, some of our pass game that’s not vertically down the football field, we’re close on things. Eleven guys have to fully operate as one. The good thing is, we have guys that can do it and guys that have already done it before. We have to prepare the right way, practice really well and take some steps, but we’re fully capable of being more efficient than we were.”
On Keenan Pili’s status…
“Keenan had an ACL injury and will be done for the season. Keenan — I said it after the (Florida) game — there’s nobody that represents Tennessee better than him. He’s a great leader and will continue to be that inside of our building. Just heartbroken for him and his family. A guy that does absolutely everything right, a special player but special person too. He’s got a great future.”
On the keys to having success in the run game earlier in the football game…
“Execution, winning on blocks when they’re isolated, communication and targeting the right thing. We have to settle into the football game a little bit better, early in the football game. Again, that’s something that we’re fully capable of.”
On missed deep ball opportunities and how to correct those moving forward…
“A little bit off on the throw. (Squirrel White) was really close. Make him bend outside a little bit off of it. The safety was a little bit tighter to it than anticipated. All in all, wide receivers and quarterback, we have to make it right. We have to hit some of those plays.”
On Kalen DeBoer’s visit to him in Oklahoma and their prior relationship…
“Yeah, Kalen is … Not a lot of us from South Dakota. Anyways, I knew of him when I was younger, and through his coaching career, he’s just somebody I have stayed in contact with at times. I have great respect for him and what he has done throughout his career and how he handles himself.”
On if DeBoer’s offense ran similar to his years ago…
“I think everybody has continued to evolve from when he first visited us.”
On concerns for Nico Iamaleava and his confidence…
“I think for every player, not just the quarterback, you have to play the next play independently and the next week independently, too. We started extremely fast, had the turnover and got behind the chains a couple of times there. The first quarter and early second quarter had penalties, some self-inflicted wounds and things that we can control and be smarter in. I thought for a second, offensively, that we weren’t playing with the same aggressiveness that we came out early in the football game with. For us settling in, we have a bunch of guys that have played at a high level and made plays. Nico has played well. He hasn’t played his best football the last couple of weeks. Just go prepare in practice and go play the next game, the next play with an aggressive mentality. There are a lot of things that he did well in the football game too, so just have to continue to grow.”
On if he has concerns about Nico Iamaleava pressing…
“I don’t have concerns about him pressing. He’s prideful, and it matters to him. He wants to perform well — not for himself, but for the guys around him. Let’s go have a great week and be ready to go play really good football. When you play quarterback, it’s not going to be perfect. Everybody wants it to be, but it wasn’t for Hendon Hooker or any of the guys that we have had. Being resilient, coming back and playing with great confidence and poise, which he will, will lead you to the plays that are going to present themselves.”
On Nico Iamaleava’s pocket presence…
“Some of them, he is absolutely right on. For some of them, he has an opportunity to deliver the ball. Can the pocket be cleaner while he’s trying to deliver it? Yeah. In offensive football, 11 guys have to operate together. There are times when the o-line is doing a really good job, and we are not doing a really good job at running back, or vice versa. For Nico, being calm, poised and being in a great platform to be able to deliver the football on time is important, but a part of his game and a part of what we need is when it is not right down the football field, is to be able to scramble and make plays.”
On the first year facing Alabama without Nick Saban…
“This rivalry has been around a long time, before Nick Saban was a part of it or I was a part of it. The magnitude of this rivalry is the historical nature and what it has meant inside of this league.”
On what makes defending Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe so difficult…
“He’s been extremely accurate with the football. He’s been a pretty sound decision-maker. While you’re trying to apply pressure to him, so these guys don’t have all day to run around on the second and third level, you have to be mindful and not let him escape. His athleticism, when he does escape, is special. You put all of those pieces together, you have to do a great job of having rush integrity, getting off of blocks and making a play when he tucks it.”
On the confidence in the linebacker room, especially Jeremiah Telander…
“He’s played a bunch throughout the course of the season and really the entire football game the other night. Everybody has great confidence in him, but the other guys as well. Defensively, played extremely well with gap integrity. Communication was solid. There were a couple of things that we weren’t right on, and we can clean those things up. All in all, have great confidence in all of those guys.”
On Ethan Davis’ progress…
“He’s somebody that we plan on using more. A couple of weeks ago, structural change. Miles (Kitselman) got a majority of it with Holden (Staes). We have great confidence in (Ethan). We’ll continue to play him moving forward.”
On what has been different for James Pearce Jr. the last two weeks…
“I wouldn’t say there is anything different in his effort, strain. There have been a few more times where he’s had an opportunity to make the play, and he’s made the play. He’s played really well all year long. A couple of huge plays in the game the other night. Plays that you don’t take for granted but expect him to make. He’s played really well. Within the structure of what we’re doing, assignment sound and playing at a really high level.”
On who will be taking over the in-helmet communication duties on defense…
“Haven’t finalized that. It could be (Arion Carter), it could be (Jeremiah Telander) who takes that over.”
On Nathan Robinson possibly expanding his role on the offensive side of the football…
“I don’t think we’ll expand him to playing a bunch of tight end. That was something we thought gave us an advantage in short-yardage situations the other night. He and (Jaxson Moi) both performed really well within it.”
On if he saw any growth from his offensive line over the past week…
“At times, just not consistent enough. Five guys operating as one. A lot of times, we had four operating as one. That’s how we clean it up and be more efficient in what we’re doing up front.”
On the younger players in the linebacker room…
“We’ve played some of those guys throughout the course of (the season) and have rotated there. Feel good about all of those guys that you’ve seen in action already. (Kalib Perry) and (Jalen Smith), those guys will continue to play.”
Senior C Cooper Mays
On what stands out about Alabama’s defense and its defensive line…
“The first thing you look at is the God-given talent. Size, athleticism, the violence they can play with based off those things. That’s the first thing that steps out. You know what Alabama is going to be each year. You put on the film but you know what is going to be on it.”
On blocking for Dylan Sampson…
“He makes it a lot easier on you. A guy that is super athletic and can make people miss and make you right when you’re a little bit wrong. That’s all you can really ask out of a back. I think just him being really diligent in the offseason and remaining healthy during the year has done a lot of good for him. Everybody gets older and a little bit better and I think he has done a good job at that.”
On how much the Third Saturday in October means to him being a Tennessee kid…
“I think we’re all excited for it. I think maybe I might be a little more excited because I am local, but I think we all know what the challenge means and what it means to this fanbase and this program. I think everybody is ready for it.”
RS-Junior DB Christian Charles
On how the communication changed without Keenan Pili…
“Yeah, I think that is kind of the beauty of the way we play defense, you know we have a lot of guys in there. So, we have the opportunity to communicate with every level of defense and everyone that comes in. I think when we lost Keenan we didn’t know the severity of the injury or what happened but we all have that next man up mentality. We take communication and executing at a very high level and it’s very imperative on our minds. We already have that heightened sense of communication on the field, but I guess with him being out it’s just time to ramp it up a little bit more for sure.”
On the matchup with Alabama and what challenges its offense poses…
“Playing Alabama every year is very exciting and it’s an opportunity to show what you are made of. Their offense, we have seen it all season long. Explosive plays whether it’s running or passing. They have a very talented wide receiver group and running back and a talented quarterback in Jalen (Milroe). We can’t take any aspect of their game for granted and got to approach it with a mindset of communicating at a high level and allowing ourselves to believe what we see.”
RS-Senior DB Will Brooks
On Boo Carter’s play against Florida…
“I thought he was playing super fast. He is continuing to learn every single week. Continually getting better throughout the week in his preparation. I saw it through the week in practice and it translated to the game. He had a great game.”
On watching Ricky Gibson III and Jermod McCoy make big plays in crucial moments…
“It’s great to see them make plays. I see every day how hard they work. They come in, they work, they prepare, they do things the right way so it’s great to see it pay off on Saturdays and make big plays.”
On Jalen Milroe being able to keep plays alive with his feet…
“It definitely makes it a lot harder, just knowing that at any given moment he can escape the pocket and extend a play. So, just making sure we can stay in coverage longer and keep our eyes on our man until the play ends. But yeah, just adds another element to their offense.”
