University of Tennessee Athletics
Bowl Appearance An Earned Expectation
December 14, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The Volunteer freshmen do not know what it feels like to miss out on the experience and they plan on keeping it that way. Theirs is a plan to ensure that the preparation for the TaxSlayer Bowl is an example of how Decembers at Tennessee are supposed to be spent.
"That's one of the great benefits about being in a bowl game is it's getting back to the standards and expectations of Tennessee football, head coach Butch Jones said. "Tennessee football is not supposed to be home for the holidays."
Running back Jalen Hurd was a player that helped to set the tone for the bowl appearance with his performances all season. He also knows that being satisfied now is not an option.
"It's huge for the program and really, we expect ourselves to go to a bowl game every single year because we're Tennessee," Hurd said. "That's the expectation for us."
As with anything else earned on the football field, there is a certain amount of sacrifice involved in the bowl appearance. Players will spend the next week on campus with practices and training sessions before taking a few days at home for the holidays. The team will reconvene in Knoxville before heading to Jacksonville.
For the freshmen, it is another step in the transition that have been making all season long, on and off the football field.
"I know it's tough for a lot of these individuals being away from home for the first time at the holidays, that's part of the maturation process," Jones said. "To be able to experience a first-class bowl like the TaxSlayer Bowl, that's part of the standard and expectation and the opportunity to compete in front of a national audience on Jan. 2."
The reality is not just being away from home, but making the most of the time and the practices, both for Iowa on the second day of the new year and for the other 12 games scheduled for 2015.
"It's very important," safety Todd Kelly, Jr. said of bowl practice. "Our main goal coming in to this season was to make a bowl game, and we ended up reaching that goal, so now we want to win it. We're excited."
Sunday began the process in earnest. With final exams during the last week, the team had not been on the practice field for a team session since finding out the opponent and destination shortly after the end of practice last Sunday. Player development is still the first priority for this portion of bowl practice, but now there is also an eye on the Hawkeyes.
"We've seen a lot of different things and we're doing everything we can to prepare for our opponent, just like we have week in and week out," offensive lineman Jashon Robertson said. "We're going to continue to mold together, grind and enjoy the process to get better."
Getting better includes once again making bowl appearances a habit at Tennessee, not just a season goal.
"We're embarking on our 50th bowl appearance as a proud football program," Jones said. "There's a price to be paid for success and it's very, very difficult, it's sacrifice, it's a mentality, its everything that is required.
"They deserve it, but it's the standard at Tennessee. We expect to be playing in bowl games."
