Vol Report: Vols Look to Continue Success

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following a complete team win over South Carolina, the Tennessee Football team and "player's coach" Jeremy Pruitt spent Tuesday in shells on Haslam Field preparing for a homecoming matchup with UAB.

"Coach Pruitt, he's a player's coach," said freshman linebacker Henry To'o To'o. "He loves his players and he'll do anything for his players. That's kind of coach who you want to play for. Coach Pruitt is a real genuine dude and he'll do anything for you."

To'o To'o collected eight tackles against South Carolina to match his career best in a defensive effort that held the Gamecocks to just 21 points and a scoreless second half.

With Pruitt and his team's sights set on Saturday night, the Vols will look again towards the Tennessee fanbase that has electrified Neyland Stadium this fall.

"Coach Pruitt, it's obvious that he has our backs," senior linebacker Daniel Bituli said. "You can see how fired up he is and that's him each and every time. It also helps us out that we have the best fanbase in the world. When they get us loud and get us all pumped up, it gets us ready to go out there and just perform on the field."

The Blazers come to Knoxville equipped with the fifth best defense in the country, holding opponents to 248.6 yards of total offense per game.

"Man, we've just been coming to work," junior running back Ty Chandler said. "Just going to work every week, and that's the thing we've got to do—continue to do. We've got another good opponent coming ahead, UAB. So, we've got to work just as hard as we did last week to get ready for them."

Bituli and The Defense Lead the Charge
When Tennessee welcomes UAB for the fifth time to Neyland Stadium, the Vols will look to contain their third-straight opponent that averages over 400 yards of total offense.

Bituli will look to build off of a career day in his final Homecoming at Neyland Stadium. Against the Gamecocks, the senior paced the defense with 15 total tackles, a tackle for loss, and scored the Vols' final points of the game after blocking a punt and retuning it for a touchdown. He earned SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors and was named to Pro Football Focus' SEC and National Defensive Team of the Week.

"It honestly only happened because of my D-line," Bituli said. "They did a good job of holding the O-linemen up, so they couldn't climb up to the secondary and block us. We just talked about the plays we were going to get this week. We knew they were big on the moon plays and running the dark plays. All that was based on the tight end location. They just did a good job of stepping up with the O-linemen so they couldn't come up to us and we could make plays."

Vols Look for Continued Success Offensively
The Vols' offense has been on an upward trend on the back half of the 2019 slate. Leading the charge against South Carolina were offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy and Jauan Jennings, who both earned SEC Player of the Week honors.

"To think about the things that I've been through, it's always great to have an honor like that," Kennedy said.

Kennedy and the offensive line did not allow a sack for the second time this season, laying the foundation for the offense to set a season-high 485 yards of total offense.

Jennings grabbed the SEC Offensive Player of the Week honor after finishing with 192 yards of total offense as he lined up at quarterback to start in the game in the wildcat and played most of his snaps at receiver.

"It meant a lot," Jennings said. "First and foremost, it's a blessing. Secondly, it's just an honor and I'm grateful that I could receive that honor."

The senior finished with a career-high 174 yards against USC on seven catches while tying his career high in catches (7) and touchdowns (2). Jennings along with fellow senior receiver Marquez Callaway combined for 276 yards in the air and three touchdowns. It marked the second time this season the duo each recorded 100-plus yards in a game. Callaway also scored on a 65-yard punt return in the second quarter.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Players Mentioned

Daniel Bituli

Marquez Callaway

Ty Chandler

Jauan Jennings

Brandon Kennedy

Henry To'o To'o

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