— 'On the bye week: “I thought it was — if not the best bye week — one of the best bye weeks we’ve had here in a really long time. We were in full pads and I liked the way that we approached the bye week. I think that a lot of times you can approach the bye week as though it’s an off week and our players didn’t do that. They approached it as a week to get better and improve, so I like that from what I saw. Now we need to continue to grow and elevate that as we get into game week preparation.”
— On defensive end Darrell Taylor: “Darrell Taylor has been suspended indefinitely. There has been no timetable set on his return. He’ll have certain stipulations or requirements that must be met. There are multiple factors that have led to this decision.”
— On South Carolina: “They are a very good football team. They’re going to be coming in here with a lot of confidence. When you look at their football team, they force you to execute in all three phases. They’re plus seven in the turnover margin…They are 4-2. Two of their losses have been very close as well. So, it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity and it all starts with preparation.”
— On wide receiver Marquez Callaway: “He’ll actually be out in practice today and that’ll be big for us not only from an offensive standpoint, but also from a special teams standpoint as well.”
— On the offensive struggles this year: “Just the overall discipline to execute. I think the big play has been missing from our offense. It’s hard to be perfect. When we have an opportunity for a big play, we have to make that happen, whether it’s a 50-50 ball or whether it’s the receivers blocking out on the perimeter and getting our running backs extra running lanes, extra room. The overall strain up front - we talk about six seconds, three great efforts - we actually counted those out this week. In terms of what it takes, I think just a high level of consistency, execution, first down efficiency - it’s hard to recover when you’re second and 12, second and 14 - and then taking care of the football.”
— On possible team chemistry issues:
“I see these individuals every day. The locker room is strong. The team is strong. We have had a lot of individuals emerge as leaders during the bye week. I told the team that we must learn from the past mistakes but we must let the past go. We can’t get back the past. The only day we have is today. Our message has been to win the day. Our players are as strong and as committed as they have ever been. That lets me know that we are going to be okay. There are a lot of individuals who take pride in being a part of Tennessee football. The older players have been through this. They know that the only way around this is to put your head down and work every single day.”
— On dividing practice reps between two quarterbacks: “We have always handled that situation by giving QB1 the bulk of the reps. QB2 gets a lot of reps as well. Itʻs divided probably 60/40. During the bye week it was 50/50. We have gotten Will McBride a lot of snaps as well because he is one snap away from being QB2. There is a lot that goes in it.
I tell our QBs that they don’t have to get a physical rep to get a rep. They can get a leadership rep by standing with the wide outs and going through their progression.”
Random Thoughts from Saturday:
— Georgia is really good. I know they don’t have a great passing game with true freshman quarterback Jake Fromm, but they have an elite defense and elite running game. That wins a lot of games, especially in the SEC.
I’m not sure they win at Auburn on Nov. 11, but the Bulldogs should be 11-1 when they play in the SEC Championship Game.
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Every time I watch Florida play, I get mad knowing the Vols lost to them. They are terrible. Props to LSU for showing some pride and winning in Gainesville after an embarrassing home loss to Troy the week before. Ed Orgeron got his team to play hard, something Butch Jones didn’t do against Georgia. I’ve thought all season that Jim McElwain’s job was safe at Florida barring a complete collapse. I still think that, but the Gators could lose five games this year.
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Auburn is a real threat to Alabama in the SEC West. That 14-6 loss at Clemson doesn’t look so bad now. Kerryon Johnson is a playmaker at running back, and paired but Kamryn Pettway — the SEC’s leading rusher last year — the Tigers have a ground attack good enough to move the ball on any team.
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South Carolina put a beatdown on Arkansas. I never expected a Will Muschamp team to hang almost half a hundred on any SEC team. Bret Bielema’s hot seat should be hotter than Butch Jones’, but his $16 million dollar buyout might keep him in Fayetteville another year or two.
— Kentucky picked up a nice win over Missouri. No SEC game is a guaranteed win for the Wildcats, but that was a nice home victory for Kentucky, even if it was over dreadful Mizzou. Barry Odom better hope Missouri shows him some loyalty, or else he’s out because he has virtually no buyout.
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I saw a stat on Twitter that Oklahoma has lost a game as a double-digit favorite in each of the last seven seasons. That’s unreal. Iowa St. walking into Norman with a backup quarterback and winning was amazing to see. Matt Campbell is in his second year in Ames, after having success at Toledo. Maybe a name to watch if Tennessee misses on its top four or five names.
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James Franklin sure looks to be missing Bob Shoop, doesn’t he? Penn St. is the highest ranked team in the Big 10 and Saquon Barkley is the best player in college football, but Ohio St. is the best team in the Big 10. Aside from the loss to Oklahoma, the Buckeyes have looked very good. They’ve beat Maryland 62-14 on Saturday. Ohio St. gets Penn St. at home this year on Oct. 28 coming off a bye week. The Nittany Lions play Michigan the week before traveling to Columbus. Huge advantage to Ohio St.
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A brutal loss for Michigan at home to Michigan St. I love Jim Harbaugh, and think he’s great for college football. But that’s a game you shouldn’t lose. I know his starting quarterback was out and the second half was in a monsoon, but those are types of games an elite coach finds a way to win. Harbaugh is 1-2 against the Spartans, and 0-2 against Ohio St. Have to think he might start looking to get back to the NFL if he can’t beat the Buckeyes this year.
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Mark Richt picked up a huge win as his Hurricanes knocked off Florida St. in Tallahassee. The Seminoles are now 1-3, after beginning the year ranked No. 3. If there’s a team that’s had a worse season than Florida St., I don’t know who they are. Miami has a favorable schedule the rest of the way, though they now have a quick turnaround to face Georgia Tech on Thursday night. They avoid Clemson, Louisville and NC St. until the ACC Title game. Wouldn’t it be funny if Miami and Georgia somehow both made the College Football Playoffs?
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Caught a little bit of San Diego St. and UNLV late Saturday night. I’m a college football degenerate, but it was a great environment for UNLV in its first home game since the Las Vegas shootings. Sports have a way of healing people and communities in a way that nothing else can. That was good to see. San Diego St. is really good, and I think they’ll be the Group of Five team that makes the New Year’s Six bowl game.
The Aztecs have already have wins over Stanford, Arizona St., Air Force and Northern Illinois. Their toughest remaining game is at home vs. Boise St. this week.
I love college football!!!
I can't wait until we get back to it here in Knoxville in a serious way.
Matt'
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