KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As game week preparations for No. 11/11 Tennessee’s annual “Third Saturday in October” rivalry game against No. 6/6 Alabama continue, one of the Volunteers’ major points of emphasis this week is trying to build off their best rushing performance of the year in last Saturday’s victory over Arkansas.
The Big Orange powered their way to a season-high 264 yards on the ground while averaging 6.6 yards per carry in their 34-31 victory against the Razorbacks, marking their fourth contest this year with 235 or more rushing yards.
Running backs coach De’Rail Sims credited some of the team’s improvement on the patience and development of UT’s three talented running backs room, consisting of DeSean Bishop, Star Thomas and Peyton Lewis.
“That’s one of those deals that we constantly talk about,” Sims said when asked about the importance of patience and waiting for blocks to develop. “I think they’ve gotten better as the season went along, because early on you can see them kind of rushing some things and outrunning their blocks a little bit.
“Still have to continue to work on that. That’s just as a running back, naturally sometimes you want to outrun your blocks. You have to understand that you have to slow it down at times to allow things to be able to set up, and our job is to bring the linebackers and defensive linemen to the offensive linemen.”
Bishop is coming off a career-best 146 rushing yards on just 14 carries while Lewis found the end zone twice in the second half to help UT build a three-score lead early in the fourth quarter.
“I think he just got in his groove early in that game on Saturday,” Sims said about Bishop’s career day. “You saw him get hot early on in that first drive and the same situation in that second drive.
“I think he got really, really comfortable early on. And then, he did a really good job just being patient and allowing the game to come to him, and you just saw him progress as the game went along that he felt really, really good.”
Lewis showcased his improved strength on both of his touchdown runs, which occurred in short-yardage situations from inside the 5-yard line.
“I think you look at overall, he’s a hard guy to get wrapped up because of his frame and how low he runs,” Sims said. “You saw it on the first touchdown, that lower body strength that he has with him. He goes in there, and he’s flattening the run off, he’s got guys hanging on him and he’s got that second effort. He does a really good job from a second effort standpoint of being able to strain and find a way to get across the goal line.”
Full transcripts from Tuesday’s assistant coach press conferences can be seen below.
Running Backs Coach De’Rail Sims (10.14.25)
On DeSean Bishop’s production the past few weeks and in particular against Arkansas…
“I think he just got in his groove early in that game on Saturday. You saw him get hot early on in that first drive and the same situation in that second drive. I think he got really, really comfortable early on. And then, he did a really good job just being patient and allowing the game to come to him, and you just saw him progress as the game went along that he felt really, really good.”
On emphasizing patience in the run game for his position room…
“Yeah, that’s one of those deals that we constantly talk about. I think they’ve gotten better as the season went along, because early on you can see them kind of rushing some things and outrunning their blocks a little bit. But as the season went along, they’ve gotten really good and better at it. Still have to continue to work on that. That’s just as a running back, naturally sometimes you want to outrun your blocks. You have to understand that you have to slow it down at times to allow things to be able to set up, and our job is to bring the linebackers and defensive linemen to the offensive linemen. So, they’ve done a better job of that in the second half of the season so far, so we just have to keep it going.”
On Peyton Lewis staying ready for his opportunity to play against Arkansas…
“Same deal he always does, he’s prepared. All those guys do a really good job from a preparation standpoint, but he stayed in-tune, he stayed locked in. You know, I think a lot of times what helps is sometimes you get to see the game and how it’s being played out until you get your series in a game, and then you kind of understand how they’re playing, how they’re trying to fit the run. He just did a really good job of staying locked in. His preparation has always been good throughout the week, and then once he got in the game it was like, ‘okay, this is just like it’s always been,’ and he got in his rhythm, he got in his groove and did a really good job closing the game out.”
On strength helping Peyton Lewis play well in short yardage situations…
“I think you look at overall, he’s a hard guy to get wrapped up because of his frame and how low he runs. Now, we all have to continue to run lower to the ground. You saw it on the first touchdown, that lower body strength that he has with him. He goes in there, and he’s flattening the run off, he’s got guys hanging on him and he’s got that second effort. He does a really good job from a second effort standpoint of being able to strain and find a way to get across the goal line.”
On Star Thomas’ production compared to the first few weeks of the season…
“I think it’s just overall, just being more patient. You know what I’m saying? Just allowing it to set itself up. A couple times, it’s some things that he can’t control from the game standpoint, but the things that he can control on his end – making sure his eyes are in the correct spot and just being more patient. It’s nothing that he’s doing wrong, I just think, going back to, ‘man, if stuff gets cloudy for me for a little bit, just allowing it to work itself out and allowing myself to be more patient with my eyes.'”
On what he wants the running backs on the sideline looking out for in the game…
“With those guys, they do a really good job of staying at my hip throughout the drives and the series, and they point out stuff that we talked about during the week as they’re seeing it, as the game is progressing. I’m seeing how the defense is playing, seeing the different types, because we understand we’re going to get a lot of different structures week-to-week as teams try to play us defensively. The biggest deal is how they are fitting the run, you know? Are they fitting it in from the top down, are they fitting it hard from the linebacker-second level standpoint? And then, now they are able to give pointers to those guys as they’re coming off the sidelines. Same situation in blitz pickup, you know, good tips and giveaways that the defense has given to be able to help each other out. So, those are the things that they do a really good job of.”
On what DeSean Bishop is doing to get longer runs…
“The biggest deal is he’s delivering the blocks to the o-line, and then his vision is taking over. He’s doing a really good job. He’s having to break a tackle, which all running backs do, but he’s allowing his vision to be able to take over once he sets those blocks up. He’s doing a really good job. Like, the one before half – to where he pops that one – you see the patience, and then you see acceleration. That’s the thing that I think with him, he’s done a really good job growing in.”
Secondary Coach Willie Martinez (10.14.25)
On working with this season’s defense…
“You know, obviously, we want to play elite, right? Everybody does, but may not. The bottom line is you want to win games. How can we do our part? We got to be efficient in all areas. Obviously, being very good on first down, to try and get defenses to get the offenses in long yardage, get them behind the sticks. Where we haven’t done a good job, and I think you’re aware of it, is the third downs. We got to be better. We got to be more consistent in having those opportunities, and there have been different reasons why. Not executing it, not making the play, not knowing the situation in those moments. We got to be better than that. We got to get off the field, and that’s really what’s cost us and made the drives continue. Now, we’ve played some pretty good quarterbacks, too. We’ve seen guys who are off schedule. The last couple of ball games, if we play, guys who can do a really good job of breaking the pocket. We got to do a good job of plastering receivers. When there are guys wide open, we got to be able to be tighter on those coverages. The bottom line is you want to win the games. We know that. We have to be better on defense, more consistent, like you said. I’ll leave it there.”
On game week chatter leading up to the Alabama game…
“I really don’t read what’s being said. That would be the first time I’ve heard it. I’m sure that they probably listen to stuff like that, or it’s out there on social media. We just care about how we prepare. We know that our opponents are a good team. Obviously, everybody that we play is really good, and they’re going to be ready for us. We just have to be our best when we play them. They have great receivers. We know that. We faced them last year. They have a couple of other guys, too, that are doing a really good job, and a quarterback that’s hot. Simpson’s doing a really great job of managing the offense and being very productive. So, we’ve got to do a good job, again, on those early downs trying to get them behind the sticks to force the third down in longs, be efficient, and the best we can.”
On being more consistent in zone coverage…
“I think it’s a lot of it. Anticipating what someone lines up in a formation and knowing the situation, whatever that D&D is, where are you at in the field? There’s always some tells to the story as you prepare for an opponent. What are the strengths and weaknesses? There’s a lot that goes into the thought process. We’ve had times where guys were there to make a play, didn’t make the play, guys that did make plays. Who’s the guy that they go to the most? Or, taking the right angles, being in the right place at the right time. We just have to do a better job collectively as 11 guys. Defense, man, if you’re not all on the same page, your holes, they’ll pick you apart. We’ve had 10 guys doing it right; one guy didn’t do it right. We’ve had that before.”
On the relationship between Ty Redmond and Colton Hood…
“They’re doing a really good job on the edges, really are. They’ve been very consistent, they’ve made a bunch of plays and you know, you can’t play defense if you don’t have those guys on the outside that can force the offense to go in a different direction, you know what I mean? I think they’re doing a good job, you know, to compare them to Jermod (McCoy) and Ricky (Gibson) I think is unfair a little bit because they’ve had their success at times this year and obviously Ty being young, it’s his first year we were really excited how he’s really continuing to grow each and every week.”
On finding more consistency from the safety position…
“I think it’s a little bit both on the whole entire group. You said safeties, obviously they’ve got to be the guys that make the calls, make the checks, be on the same page. You know that’s very true but they’ve got to get it communicated to everybody else too and I think moving forward that’s the whole idea man is just doing your job. Everybody just do their job, all 11 guys. We’re the last line of defense. It’s going to be more of a focus, you can see it more, you can see all the mistakes from space and we’ve got to be the guys that cover it up when someone does make mistakes in front of you. So, it’s the position, we’ve just got to continue to grow and learn from those things and be more consistent like I’m saying with everybody.”
On encouraging Jermod McCoy through rehab…
“Again, that’s not a hard question to ask, Mod (Jermod McCoy) is the same dude that he was when he came in on campus. He works every day, he’s preparing every day to play and he’s on course, whatever that is. He’s engaged every single day in our meetings. There’s nothing really different other than him not playing on game day. So, he’s doing a great job. He’s obviously grown a lot from a standpoint in our package, knowing our defense. He’s involved each and every day with, whether it’s Ty Redmond, whether it’s any one of those young guys or even Colton (Hood), who it’s his first year, so he’s doing well.”
On adjustments made on the team due to injury…
“Thats part of it, you know? I mean, you go to the next man, it is what it is, it’s part of the game. We all have to deal with it and again, the best way to do that is to continue to develop your players and get everybody ready to go. We’ve got good players and have the next man mentality, you know, it’s not going to help you to sit there and think about it as its happening but, obviously you can only control what you can control, you can’t control the uncontrollables and just continue to work and develop and get the guys who’s next in line to be ready and be prepared so that when their moment comes, they’ll produce.”
