KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt said the Vols are getting closer to finding the type of leadership he wants in a football program on Monday during his weekly press conference.
Tennessee is coming off a 58-21 loss to No. 1 Alabama and returned to practice on Monday afternoon at Haslam Field.
“I do think that we’re getting close because you can sense some frustration with guys doing it the right way,” Pruitt said. “It’s easy to tell. All you have to do is watch the film. They’re out there every day at practice. They know what guys are capable of, of what calls we’ve worked. It’s hard to run from the video. I think as this season goes, I see more and more of it, which is positive.”
Pruitt took full responsibility for the Vols’ mistakes against the Crimson Tide, but acknowledged the team must move on and turn its attention to South Carolina. The Vols travel to Columbia, S.C. this Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network) game to kick-off the season’s final five-week stretch.
“I’m the head football coach, so everybody under me I’m responsible for,” Pruitt said. “The guys not playing at their best, ultimately that’s my responsibility. It’s frustrating for me and it’s a challenge for our coaches, for me, for everybody associated with our program…. To me, if you want to know how good a coach you are, just look at what you put on the field because what you put on the field, that’s yours, that’s mine, that’s ours. We’ve got to do a good job of getting these guys to play at their highest level all the time and that all comes back to me. Then to me, I’m looking forward to the next five weeks starting today to get our guys to do that. That’s just why you get in this business.”
Jennings Has Experience, Family Ties in Columbia
Redshirt junior Jauan Jennings is one of the few Vols to see significant action in a game at William-Brice Stadium. He caught a fourth-quarter six-yard touchdown from Josh Dobbs against the Gamecocks in 2016 to cut South Carolina’s lead to 24-21 – the final score of the game. Redshirt junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland led the Vols with eight tackles during the trip.
“It’s a great environment to go on the road and play football in,” Jennings said. “It’s always great to play football, and it’ll be a challenge for our team. We’re just getting ready and I can’t wait for this weekend.”
Jennings has emerged as a leader for the Vols’ offense in recent weeks. He finished with six receptions for 102 yards against the Crimson Tide – the most receiving yards by a player against the nation’s No. 1 team this season. He had five catches for 71 yards and the go-ahead score in the 30-24 upset at No. 21 Auburn two weeks ago. In four SEC games, Jennings has 17 receptions for 250 yards. He ranks sixth in the league in conference-only games with 62.5 receiving yards per game.
“I’m just going out there, playing football and running my route as fast as I can,” he said. “When the ball comes my way, I make the catch. That’s all it is.”
Jennings’ sister, Alexis, stars on South Carolina’s women’s basketball team and ranked second on the team win scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg) in 2017-18.
“She always will root for her brother,” Jauan Jennings said with a laugh. “It will probably be half and half. I’m sure family comes first.”
Pruitt Looking for Improvement from the Secondary
The Vols were without senior safety Micah Abernathy (team-best 27 career starts) for the second straight week as he continues to recover from injury as well as freshman safety Trevon Flowers (collarbone injury during bye week), who started the season-opener and was a heavy contributor in the four other games he played. Against Alabama, Tennessee lost freshman cornerback Alontae Taylor following a scuffle with a Crimson Tide player and starting safety Shawn Shamburger to injury in the second quarter.
The Vols’ secondary played the majority of the game against Alabama quarterback and Heisman Trophy frontrunner Tua Tagovailoa with several reserves. Still, Pruitt made zero excuses for the position group. He expects improvement to come this week in practice.
“We didn’t play like we needed to play. We gave those guys too many easy plays. When you look at the tape, there’s lots of mistakes that we need to improve on and those guys can play better. We’re going to work hard this week to get them to do that.”
Pruitt said Abernathy would be day-to-day this week.
Pruitt Confident Guarantano Will Return
Pruitt said redshirt sophomore quarterback Jarrett Guarantano is expected to return this week after being knocked out of Saturday’s game against Alabama following a hit on a 30-yard completion to Josh Palmer in the second-quarter.
“I think Jarrett’s going to be fine,” Pruitt said. “He took a pretty good shot. He took a couple pretty good shots. He’s a tough guy and I expect him to be out there.”
South Carolina Led by Bentley
The Gamecocks are led by junior quarterback Jake Bentley, who has started 25 games and passed for 5,365 yards and 37 touchdowns.
Bentley ranks third in the SEC with 20.2 completions per game and sixth in the league with 230.2 passing yards per game. He leads the league in interceptions with seven.
Bentley, who graduated a year early from high school to enroll at South Carolina, was the 2018 Outback Bowl MVP and is a member of the Watch Lists for the Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Maxwell Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. His father, Bobby Bentley, is South Carolina’s running backs coach. Bobby Bentley is a South Carolina high school coaching legend, winning four consecutive state championships at James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C.
Pruitt is familiar with the Bentley’s, as the Byrnes teams used to come down to Hoover High School for 7-on-7 camps. He said his prior school recruited Jake Bentley and that he has known Bobby Bentley for many years.
“Jake’s a coach’s son,” Pruitt said. “He understands what they’re trying to get done. He’s tough. He can get the ball out of his hand, makes all the throws. Very unique situation that he leaves, really he could have played his senior year in high school, leaves and goes to South Carolina and ends up being the quarterback. That says a lot about him. We’ll have to find ways to affect him Saturday because if you let him sit there and stand in there in the pocket, he can deliver to some really good players.”
————————————————————————————
Player Quotes
Redshirt Junior WR Jauan Jennings:
On getting into a rhythm the last few games:
“I’m just going out there, playing football and running my route as fast as I can. When the ball comes my way, I make the catch. That’s all it is.”
On Keller Chryst’s performance on Saturday:
“He stepped up in a big situation and played to the best of his capability, and that’s all we can ask for.”
On playing on the road at South Carolina:
“It’s a great environment to go on the road and play football in. It’s always great to play football, and it’ll be a challenge for our team. We’re just getting ready and I can’t wait for this weekend.”
Redshirt Junior TE Eli Wolf:
On his thoughts on South Carolina:
“They’re a great football team and anytime you play another SEC opponent it’s going to be a tough game, so we have to be ready.”
On what needs to be done to improve the running game:
“We just need to open up holes and create protection. All around we have to get better. Saturday was not what we wanted or expected for ourselves, so we have to use this week of practice and move forward.”
On travelling to Columbia this weekend:
“I think we’ll compete anywhere, whether it’s at home or away. A road environment presents another challenge, but I don’t think we’re extremely phased by that and we take pride in playing in any atmosphere.”
Junior DB Baylen Buchanan
On the veteran leadership on the team:
“It starts with knowing what to do. We have to do a better job as veterans knowing and sensing who is ready to play, and who is not. We have to get in the film room to correct it and make sure everyone is on the same page.”
On responding to Pruitt’s challenge:
“I know some guys got in there yesterday and already started on South Carolina. The players are watching the game as a group this week. We have to watch the film, we have to watch the mistakes we made, learn from it and move on.”
On playing the STAR position:
“I feel like I am getting more comfortable each week. Each game I feel like I’m working on a different piece of my game. I feel like I am getting more comfortable blitzing. I feel like I’m getting more physical, and that is an aspect of my game I have been wanting to work on, especially moving back inside.”
Senior DE Kyle Phillips
On the South Carolina series:
“It’s definitely a competitive game each and every time I’ve been here. It’s been down to the last possession. We know each other a lot and we’ve pretty much gained a rivalry with them. We always know when we play South Carolina it’s going to be a tough game.”
On defensive line’s role:
“The game starts up front, so when we’re doing well, our team does well. The team feeds off of what we do, so when we play well, everybody else does pretty well. So, we have to make sure we start off really good Saturday, and it starts this week in practice.”
On his mindset heading into his last five regular-season games as a senior:
“It’s my job to give my all and help my team as well. As I go into these next five games, I just want to take it one game at a time. Every week is a new season, so we have to focus on getting better every day, and hopefully we will be able to win Saturday.”
UT Athletics
