University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Report: Focused on Georgia
September 27, 2017 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones spoke to reporters at Wednesday's press conference in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Tennessee hosts No. 7 Georgia on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on CBS. Jones spoke about some of the challenges that the talented Bulldogs present on both sides of the ball.
"They are number one in the nation in red zone scoring," Jones said. "They are number one in red zone defense in the Southeastern Conference. They have many plays on offense over 20 yards. They are one of the few defenses in the nation that have not gave up a play over 40 yards. They have great depth. I know our players are looking forward to Saturday."
Jones said that it is important for the Vols to be productive on first down.
"Everything is about first-down efficiency," he said. "When we talk about first-down efficiency, four yards, whether pass or run, is considered efficient. We have to be about 65 percent at first-down efficiency. When you look at scoring drives, most first downs occur on first or second down opposed to third down. When you go and look at the video from last week we had way too many 2nd-and-12 and 2nd-and-15 plays. Against a team like this, we have to be ahead of the sticks. Like I said on Monday, against this defense, a two-yard run can be a productive run. What we have to do is, stay ahead of the chains and work to eliminate negative yardage plays. That's one of the critical elements of this game, staying on schedule, so to speak, on first and second down. They do a great job on third down, so we can't be in third and long situations."
Peyton Manning To Be Honored, Joined by College Football Hall of Famers On Field and At Vol Walk
Peyton Manning will be honored at halftime on Saturday by the National Football Foundation. The midfield ceremony will serve as the NFF's official "on-campus-salute" of Manning's selection to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Per Manning's request, some of UT's living College Football Hall of Famers will join him at the recognition and at the Vol Walk, which will begin at 1:15 p.m. ET at the Torchbearer statue on Volunteer. The VFLs include: Doug Dickey, Frank Emmanuel, Phillip Fulmer, Bob Johnson, Chip Kell, Steve Kiner, Johnny Majors and John Michaels (represented by his daughter).
