KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As No. 15/15 Tennessee prepares to encounter its first road environment this season against Mississippi State, playing smart, mistake-free football will be at a premium this Saturday afternoon in Starkville.
The Vols will look to continue to make strides on the defensive side of the ball as they prepare for an explosive Bulldogs’ offense that is averaging nearly 40 points per game.
“I thought last week we took a step forward and played cleaner,” defensive line coach Rodney Garner said following Tuesday’s practice. “That’s one of the things against UGA, I thought the guys played really hard, but we didn’t play very smart. So, it was good for us to have an opportunity to go out there and play smarter this past weekend.”
Containing quarterback Blake Shapen will be one of UT’s most difficult challenges to date, as the veteran signal caller has the ability to affect the game with his arm and his legs.
“It’s going to be a great environment, and obviously, this guy is a really good football player,” Garner said. “They have a really good scheme, so we have to make sure that we’re focusing on our fundamentals and our technique. We’ve got to play mistake-free football.”
Offensively, the Big Orange will look to keep building off of their early-season success and have that translate to a hostile road environment against a vastly improved Bulldogs’ defense.
“They do a great job. They play really hard, they’re well coached (and) they certainly make you earn it on Sunday and Monday in a game plan perspective,” tight ends coach Alec Abeln said. “But the biggest thing I’ll take from a year ago, they’ve upgraded personnel positions. They play with their hair on fire. It’s a really good defense we got ahead of us this Saturday.”
Full transcripts from Tuesday’s assistant coach press conferences can be seen below.
Defensive Line Coach Rodney Garner
On the development of young defensive linemen, namely Mariyon Dye and Isaiah Campbell…
“Well obviously, those guys have got a tremendous skill set, but still just learning the nuances of playing defensive line in this league. It’s a tough league. It’s one where you have to rely on your fundamentals and your technique, and you have to learn how to strain and finish. Where you may have been in high school, those guys usually were the best guys out there on the field, and they were able to get away with some things that may have not been fundamental, which you can’t get away with here. But so, the opportunity to play those guys the number of snaps that they got to play last week, I think it’s going to pay tremendous dividends for us going forward and for them going forward. Because the only way they’re going to get better is to actually get out there and have the opportunity to play. I think you see (Isaiah Campbell), he made some plays last week, and he’s been getting better every week. That’s the challenge, you know, to be better tomorrow than we were today. So that’s the thing that we try to stress in that room, that you know, it’s a process. We have to trust the process and keep moving forward.”
On players like Bryson Eason and Dominic Bailey seeing an increased work load…
“Those guys, I’ve been very pleased and proud of the way Eason and Bailey have stepped up, and the things that they’ve done in the absence of some guys. I know it’s a little bit different style than we’ve been able to do in the past when we had more numbers. Moving Dom inside when (Jaxson Moi) went down, we just made the decision that, that was the best thing for this team. For us to put the best lineup out there on the field, was for us to be able to move him inside and move (Tyree Weathersby) and (Tyre West), get those guys more reps. And then, also it gave us an opportunity to give (Mariyon Dye) more quality reps. So, we just try strategically to do the things that we needed to do. I think (Nathan Robinson) is coming along, I’ve been pleased with how he’s played thus far. And then like I said, I thought this past week, (Isaiah Campbell) is taking that next step. We just need for guys to continue to improve and get better so we can take some wear and tear. It was good to be able to get those younger guys more reps this past week.”
On his evaluation of the unit’s pass rush off the edge…
“I think those guys have done a really good job of affecting the quarterback, and in some crucial situations, too. Obviously, we all need to continue to get better. If we’re going to truly be a good front, we have to be able to affect the quarterback with a four-man rush at times, not having to bring five and all that. If we can do that with our twitch games and those things right there, that will help us be a better defense.”
On the challenge of Dominic Bailey transitioning to an interior player…
“Well, I’m not saying he’s going to be just a full-time interior guy. He’s a guy who can do both. As guys get healthy, you get guys back, obviously he gives us the flexibility to be able to do some different things. All last year, in the rabbits package, mostly it was him and Omarr (Norman-Lott) that played inside, so he had inside reps. They were mainly on third-down situations, so this year he’s had to take more first and second-down reps in there. I definitely think that he will be the Swiss Army knife type of guy who can do both, and we have to continue to take advantage of that.”
On pressuring Mississippi State veteran quarterback Blake Shapen…
“Like I told them, this is going to be a very good football team, a great environment to go into. None of these guys, unfortunately, have had an opportunity to play in Starkville, which I told them that it’s a very unique place with the cowbells and all that stuff. It’s going to be a great environment, and obviously, this guy is a really good football player. They have a really good scheme, so we have to make sure that we’re focusing on our fundamentals and our technique. We have to play mistake-free football. I thought last week, we took a step forward in playing cleaner. That’s one of the things against UGA, I thought the guys played really hard, but we didn’t play very smart. So, it was good for us to have an opportunity to go out there and play smarter this past weekend. Hopefully, we can build on that, because they’re a big offensive line. They’re gigantic. They’ve got some really big men, the quarterback’s a really good player, and they’ve got really good running backs and good receivers. It’s going to be a big challenge, so we’re going to have to be the best version of us come Saturday.”
On his evaluation of Tyree Weathersby and Tyre West since getting more reps at defensive end…
“I think (Tyree Weathersby) had a really good game, the first game against Syracuse. He played really well and then got banged up. West goes out has a really good game, and then he gets banged up. So, we have to just be able to stack some good on some good. Both (Weathersby and West), we’re a better football team when we can get them at full speed.”
On the difference between Mississippi State’s tempo compared to Tennessee’s…
“I think they are very similar. Coach (Jeff) Lebby obviously worked with coach (Josh) Heupel at Central Florida, so it’s something that we’ve been preparing for. Obviously, it’s going to be challenging. It always is. Even though you try to do it in practice, it’s still hard to simulate actual real time reps. It’s going to be a challenge. We have to make sure that we’re hydrated. We have to get back, get our eyes set, and we have to get them the calls quickly, so they can get their feet and eyes set, they can key and diagnose pre-snap, so we can be more efficient and play better and smarter.”
On the challenge of facing Mississippi State’s run game…
“Like I said, they’re very similar to us. Everyone thinks it’s just fun and gun, but we run the ball very successfully. These offenses, they mimic each other. That’s why they’re successful, because they have a really good run game. We have to fit our gaps. We have to be gap-sound. We have to win some one-on-one blocks. They do a great job at the point of attack on their combos, moving the first level and keeping their eyes on the second level. So, we have to be able to anchor, don’t get displaced, and all that. It’s going to be a big challenge for us up front, but if you’re going to play in this league, that’s what you have to do. We have to play at our best level.”
Tight Ends Coach Alec Abeln
On the importance of managing reps throughout the season…
“There’s no doubt the season is a grind. The way that we play, as fast as we play, you got to be able to manage some reps here and there. It was awesome for Jack (Van Dorselaer) to get some burn on Saturday. I do think he’s done a really good job as far as a true freshman coming in, being ready to be out there for sure. Now, being ready to be out there and functional versus being ready to be out there and dominant, that’s the next step for him. I thought it was good for him to get another taste of it on Saturday.”
On expanding the offense and adding new wrinkles…
“It’s been a lot of fun, honestly. Credit to Heup, he’s always a step ahead as far as what defenses are going to be doing a year from now, what we need to address a year from now, and I think it’s just given our guys the best chance to be successful. I think a lot of stuff that’s been cool as a staff just pulling from everybody’s backgrounds. None of it is necessarily reinventing the wheel, but just other things that we’ve all done and been successful with while still being who we are, still playing fast, still running the ball. It’s been a really fun off-season, a really fun season to this point offensively.”
On DaSaahn Brame’s development…
“One, just real maturity as far as understanding where he has to get better and working at it every day. Obviously, everybody wants to play right away, and I think he’s absolutely talented enough to where he feels, ‘man, I can go do it.’ I think he understands what he has to fix to get more of that. I think the more that he’s able to be out there, the more the game slows down. I think that’s really the biggest thing for any young guy — but really for DaSaahn — is just getting confidence out there, not thinking about what you’re doing, but just being able to go play.”
On Miles Kitselman’s progress after his injury…
“He’s still knocking some rust off for sure. There’s a lot of stuff off the ball on the insert game and the counter game that’s a lot of feel and a lot of banked reps and just understanding how to get your feet into the right spot, how to get your leverage right, and I think some of that as the seasons gone he’s taken steps of getting that back. It’s tough when you don’t get to do that all spring and all fall camp, and then going to it live bullets, but he’s been everything you can ask him to be for us.”
On how Joey Aguilar’s success has helped develop the tight ends…
“It’s no secret it starts with the quarterback, and it starts up front. When those guys are right, it makes our job a whole lot easier. I think just the vibe in the building, too, is a really positive one, and I think the guys can really rally around him. He leads these guys as a calm in the storm, is an energy giver when he needs to be. It’s been awesome having that guy.”
On self-evaluating as a coaching staff after the Ohio State playoff game and how he has seen the payoff of that…
“You know, one, that’s a great defense we played. They had a really good plan and we didn’t execute somethings that when you watch it, with who we were a year ago, you’re still not far off and there’s still a lot of blocks that man, this one block gets made, this one catch gets made, this one decision gets made, it’s got a chance to feel different. But certainly, every off-season we look and said, ‘man, where do we grow, how do we get better? What are things that still fit us but give defenses one more thing to prepare for?'”
On what stands out about Mississippi State’s defense…
“They’re exotic, play rush off the ball a bunch, three safety structure a bunch, which I know you guys love talking about. They do a great job. They play really hard, they’re well coached (and) they certainly make you earn it on Sunday and Monday in a game plan perspective. But the biggest thing I’ll take from a year ago, they’ve upgraded personnel positions. They play with their hair on fire. It is a really good defense we got ahead of us this Saturday.”
