University of Tennessee Athletics
#25/23 Vols Eager to Finish Regular Season with a Victory Over Rival Vanderbilt
November 20, 2023 | Football
Saturday's contest will be Senior Day for a handful of UT players who have helped the program make massive strides over the past three seasons.
"There are a lot of special guys that have been here, stayed the course and have helped put the pillars of this program back together and in place," head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday. "A lot of guys are extremely special. Need to send them out the right way."
Aside from sending the seniors out with a win in their final game at Neyland Stadium, the Vols will be aiming to end a rare two-game skid after suffering back-to-back losses to Missouri and Georgia over the last two weeks.
"They've had two weeks of preparation, opportunity to get healthy," Heupel said about this weekend's matchup against the Commodores. "This is an in-state game. This is a big game for them, it's a big game for us, too. We need to go finish it. You have to play physical, you have to win at the line of scrimmage. I just mentioned it, we have to win some one on ones in this one, too."
Despite coming off consecutive defeats, Heupel said he liked the energy from the team during Monday's session on the practice field and is confident it will be prepared to finish the regular season the right way this weekend.
"This is a prideful group, I've said that. We haven't always played as well as we think we can at certain portions of football games," Heupel added. "At the end of the day, there's a lot of work that goes into it from the time they step foot back on campus in January. This is our next opportunity, need to go take full advantage of it. Once we got out on the grass today, I liked the energy from them."
Videos, a full transcript of Heupel's press conference and select player quotes from Monday can be found below.
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Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
"Happy Thanksgiving to everybody's families. Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Salute to Service game this week as well, so I want to thank everyone for everything they do to give us the opportunity to do what we do. It's Senior Day as well. There are a lot of special guys that have been here, stayed the course and have helped put the pillars of this program together and back in place. A lot of guys are extremely special. Need to send them out the right way. This is our last opportunity in the regular season. Need to go finish it the right way inside of Neyland Stadium. Our guys need to get ready to go play."
On what this group of seniors means to him and the team…
"As a senior, it hits you. And it hits you in the face really quickly that it will be your last time inside of that stadium. It's a really special group of guys that have been through some uncertainty during the course of their careers. They chose to stay when I arrived. A lot of these guys have been instrumental in helping turn the culture and turn our program around. It's a special group in how they've performed, but also just who they are as people. I'm really proud of them."
On how he balances seniors who could choose to come back for another season…
"For us, guys that are seniors and are potentially exhausting their eligibility and/or graduating, have the opportunity to walk. I think it's important that you keep the main thing the main thing, which is Saturday afternoon performing against Vanderbilt. On the back end of the season, you want guys to make the right choice for them, their families and their future. You have conversations with them, you try to provide information to them and make sure they're putting themselves in the right position for their future, on the field and off of it."
On the difference between seeing three defensive linemen and four defensive linemen during a play…
"Three-down fronts can vary too in the fundamentals, technique and how they play it. Sometimes your matchups are different based on the type of techniques that they're playing. Schematically, sometimes your schemes are going to vary because of your spacing and how you create grass. You have to be able to adjust to what you're seeing or what you're preparing for on tape."
On the status of John Campbell Jr. and Gerald Mincey…
"Hope to have both of those guys available in this one. We'll kind of see how they go through the week and where they're at before we get to kickoff. Certainly hope to have both of those guys available."
On the status of Javontez Spraggins…
"Spraggins will be out the remainder of the season. Unfortunate injury. He's a guy that pours into his teammates, has great energy, competes extremely hard and plays really hard. He continues to get better as a player. Disappointed for him certainly."Â
On what is keeping the offense from executing at the highest level possible…
"In the football game the other day, we played hard. We played smarter football too. You can look at our penalties, and we were cleaner than we had been. The game, if you can look at one stat, it's third downs in particular, getting you to the next set of downs. They were able to convert. A lot of that was in man-to-man situations, and they made plays. Offensively, we were not able to do that. Not able to sustain anything."
On how they manage the workload of Jaylen Wright…
"We have a good stable of backs. I do think they complement each other. At the end of the game, we try to go with a guy that has a hot hand. Jaylen has been fantastic all year long. He's created some huge plays for us. We're going to need that in this football game as well. You try to balance all of that."
On if he sets a deadline for players to decide if they are using their COVID year…
"I think at the end of the day, guys have to be ready to make the decision either way. If you try to rush or pressure them into that, they end up in the situation where they maybe make the wrong one. At the end of the day, you have to be where your feet are, and I'm talking about for the next calendar year. So, you provide information for them. Some of it takes longer as you're trying to gather NFL information for those guys, too."
On if there a moment he remembers that a senior mentored one of the younger guys on the team this season…
"Jacob Warren, how he embraced McCallan Castles as soon as he set foot on campus. Being out on the field, in the meeting room, putting in the extra work with him. A guy that really helped bring him along extremely quickly."
On the status for Jourdan Thomas, Tamarion McDonald and Wesley Walker…
"We were hoping that T-Mac would be ready to go as we went through warmups. Just wasn't in a position to play. Hope to have those guys ready to go in this one. Wesley is probably more questionable than the other guys."
On using two running backs on the field at the same time…
"Who we are, how we put the gameplan together — we've had thoughts of doing that, just at the end of the day, haven't decided to go in that direction."
On the Vanderbilt game this week…
"They've had two weeks of preparation, opportunity to get healthy. This is an in-state game. This is a big game for them, it's a big game for us, too. We need to go finish it. You have to play physical, you have to win at the line of scrimmage. I just mentioned it, we have to win some one-on-one (matchups) in this one, too."
On if they have to do anything extra to inspire the team late in the season and what practice was like this morning…
"Attitude was good. Disappointed, which is what you expect and what you would want on a Monday morning as you go back and review the film with them before you get out on the grass. This is a prideful group, I've said that. We haven't always played as well as we think we can at certain portions of football games. Disappointed with last week's result, certainly. At the end of the day, there's a lot of work that goes into it from the time they step foot back on campus in January. This is our next opportunity, need to go take full advantage of it. Once we got out on the grass today, I liked the energy from them."
On what Jaylen Wright having a chance to go over 1,000 yards rushing means for him and the program…
"For him, just his growth as a player. The work that he's put into it to be in a position to obtain that, I think is important to him. He probably wouldn't say that if he was up here, but I certainly would say it for him. Proud of a young guy that when we got here, was a fast kid that just tried to run around everybody. Now, he has great patience, great vision and still has the home run speed to take it the distance."
On how much more powerful and influential leadership is when the leaders are able to play…
"It does matter that you're in the action or you're out on the field with those guys during the course of a drive. You still have influence, you still have impact when you're outside of it. Some of those guys aren't out at practice the entire time, so you miss them during portions of that, too. We've had some guys that have had surgeries, so they've been gone for an extended period of time. You miss that energy inside of your position room when they're gone."
On the inconsistencies in the passing game against Georgia…
"At the end of the day, execution. We had a tipped ball from a front-line defender on a critical play. We're not accurate with the football or don't come down with a catch in one of the man-to-man situations. All of those things parlay itself into not being as efficient and effective as you need to be during the course of that game."
On what makes it challenging to make in-game adjustments…
"If structures are different during the course of a drive, you don't have an opportunity to get with your guys. As the drive ends, you get a chance to go back, draw it up for them and try to get them on the same page. At the end of the day, that's why it's important that the guys you have out there can see, recognize and identify what's happening on the other side of the football."
RS-Senior OL Ollie Lane
On what he is thankful for about this program…Â"I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be able to come to Tennessee in the first place. This program and this university mean a lot to me. Being able to put the T on the side of my head every day and being able to wear the orange and white have meant a lot to me these past six years. Now that it's coming to a close, I think that feeling has become stronger throughout the years. It's something that I'll always carry with me wherever I go."Â
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On how he balances being in the moment of Senior Day while also facing an SEC opponent…Â
"I think it's attacking it the same way that I've attacked every week since I've been in college. I just go at it from a preparation standpoint of no matter what is going on outside, you always have to focus on the game and what is going on. You get those moments pregame and stuff like that around the stadium as you soak it all in and see the fans in the crowd cheering for you. I'm sure I'll get a nice moment getting to go through the T one last time to be able to soak it in. When it's game time, it's game time. You have to get those moments when you can, but you also have to focus on the main objective."Â
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On younger guys on the offensive line who have developed this season and could be big pieces next year…Â
"There's a lot of guys to note that I think are going to be some really big-time players. When you go through that fall camp, you have that slew of freshmen that are developing and practicing. When you get into the season, the opportunities are kind of cut down because of where their needs are. I think you guys got some looks at some guys like Vysen Lang and Addison Nichols that are going to be strong players for us. They've developed well. Larry Johnson III is going to be pretty good. I have a lot of faith in Mo Clipper Jr. to perform. There's a lot of young guys in the room that I think can do a lot of really good things, it's just continuing to track on that development."Â
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Senior WR Ramel Keyton
On what he is thankful for... Â"I'm thankful for everything that God has placed me to do. I feel like I haven't let Him down. I know He's proud of me, so I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for my family, thankful for friends, thankful for my coaches, thankful for my team. Thankful for a lot of things." Â
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On playing his final game at Neyland Stadium... Â
"It hasn't hit me all the way yet. I'm just ready to go out there and play. I'm a competitor; I want to win, so that hasn't been on my mind. I just want to go out there and win." Â
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On reflecting on his favorite moments at Tennessee... Â
"There are a lot of favorite moments. Couple plays, couple wins that we had, but I haven't really thought about that all the way yet."Â
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