University of Tennessee Athletics
BOWL REPORT: Vols Kick Off Final Gator Bowl Preparations in Jax
December 29, 2019 | Football
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Tennessee football team hit the field for the first of four practices in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.
"We had nine really good days before we came down, really before the Christmas break," head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "We got a lot of work in, a lot of physical work in, so it was good for our guys.
"We kind of kept the practices short and had a lot of competition with the ones, twos and threes. The guys responded the right way. We really spent the last two days working on Indiana. We've had good work there too."
The Vols arrived in Jacksonville on Saturday night and are scheduled to practice the next three days to conclude their prep for the 75th Gator Bowl against Indiana, which will be played at TIAA Bank Field on Thursday, Jan. 2. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Vols Looking to Build Off Strong Finish to Regular Season
The Big Orange finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in college football after winning their final five games and six of their last seven. They will look to carry that momentum into Thursday's tilt with the Hoosiers.
"The last five games we have played really well," Pruitt said. "Before that, we kind of started moving in the right direction. We want to finish. We are going to remember this game for a long time, and we have some seniors on our team that have really worked hard to turn this program in the positive direction, and we want to send these guys off the right way."
O-Line Update
Pruitt said before practice that starting center Brandon Kennedy will be a game-time decision for Thursday's contest against Indiana.
The Alabama native had a minor procedure on his knee following UT's regular-season finale against Vanderbilt. Kennedy is the only player on Tennessee's offensive line to start every game this season.
Pruitt also mentioned that redshirt freshman Kingston Harris has moved from the defensive line to the offensive line to help with depth after the departures of Ryan Johnson and Marcus Tatum.
"It was good for us to give him an opportunity and look there," Pruitt said. "We did it a fall ago. He's actually looked really good there. It's something we might continue to look at. It's something we've talked about, when this game is over with, we'll go back and reassess with him and see what he thinks."
Vols Looking for Gator Bowl Win No. 5
Thursday will mark Tennessee's seventh time playing in the Gator Bowl. The Vols are 4-2 in their previous six appearances with wins over Texas A&M (1957), Syracuse (1966), Virginia Tech (1994) and Iowa (2015).
In UT's most recent Gator Bowl appearance against Iowa, the Vols raced out to a 28-0 lead before going on to win 45-28 over the Hawkeyes. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs was named MVP after passing for 129 yards, rushing for 76 yards and accounting for three touchdowns.
A win on Thursday would be Tennessee's fourth consecutive bowl victory and third straight in the Gator Bowl.
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"We had nine really good days before we came down, really before the Christmas break," head coach Jeremy Pruitt said. "We got a lot of work in, a lot of physical work in, so it was good for our guys.
"We kind of kept the practices short and had a lot of competition with the ones, twos and threes. The guys responded the right way. We really spent the last two days working on Indiana. We've had good work there too."
The Vols arrived in Jacksonville on Saturday night and are scheduled to practice the next three days to conclude their prep for the 75th Gator Bowl against Indiana, which will be played at TIAA Bank Field on Thursday, Jan. 2. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Vols Looking to Build Off Strong Finish to Regular Season
The Big Orange finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in college football after winning their final five games and six of their last seven. They will look to carry that momentum into Thursday's tilt with the Hoosiers.
"The last five games we have played really well," Pruitt said. "Before that, we kind of started moving in the right direction. We want to finish. We are going to remember this game for a long time, and we have some seniors on our team that have really worked hard to turn this program in the positive direction, and we want to send these guys off the right way."
O-Line Update
Pruitt said before practice that starting center Brandon Kennedy will be a game-time decision for Thursday's contest against Indiana.
The Alabama native had a minor procedure on his knee following UT's regular-season finale against Vanderbilt. Kennedy is the only player on Tennessee's offensive line to start every game this season.
Pruitt also mentioned that redshirt freshman Kingston Harris has moved from the defensive line to the offensive line to help with depth after the departures of Ryan Johnson and Marcus Tatum.
"It was good for us to give him an opportunity and look there," Pruitt said. "We did it a fall ago. He's actually looked really good there. It's something we might continue to look at. It's something we've talked about, when this game is over with, we'll go back and reassess with him and see what he thinks."
Vols Looking for Gator Bowl Win No. 5
Thursday will mark Tennessee's seventh time playing in the Gator Bowl. The Vols are 4-2 in their previous six appearances with wins over Texas A&M (1957), Syracuse (1966), Virginia Tech (1994) and Iowa (2015).
In UT's most recent Gator Bowl appearance against Iowa, the Vols raced out to a 28-0 lead before going on to win 45-28 over the Hawkeyes. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs was named MVP after passing for 129 yards, rushing for 76 yards and accounting for three touchdowns.
A win on Thursday would be Tennessee's fourth consecutive bowl victory and third straight in the Gator Bowl.
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Players Mentioned
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