KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Coming off the ninth ranked win of the Josh Heupel era on Saturday against NC State, No. 7/9 Tennessee will look to continue to improve in all areas as it welcomes Kent State to Neyland Stadium this weekend.
The 51-10 win over the 24th-ranked Wolfpack marked the largest margin of victory for the Vols against any AP ranked team since defeating No. 9 Florida 45-3 on Oct. 13, 1990, and was the third-highest in program history.
Physicality in the trenches on both sides of the ball were the major story from Saturday’s win as the Big Orange rushed for 249 yards while the defense racked up 13 tackles for loss and stifled NC State all night long.
“You look at our ability to run the football since we have been here, statistically over the last decade we have always run the ball really efficiently and effectively,” Heupel said on Monday. “We have balance, and we do create big plays in the pass game, but we create those things in the run game too. I was proud of the physicality we played with on the offensive line and our tight ends and running backs played that way too.
“Same thing on the other side of the football, you look at the way our front seven played at the line of scrimmage and that was a big part of the football game.”
Statistically, Saturday was one of the best defensive performances of the Heupel era as the Vols held the Wolfpack to just 143 yards of total offense, which is the fewest yards allowed during defensive coordinator Tim Banks‘ tenure.
UT’s 39 rushing yards allowed marked the 19th time it has surrendered less than 100 yards under Banks. Dating back to 2022, the Vols have won their last 13 games when holding an opponent under 100 yards rushing.
“Tim has done an unbelievable job. That’s been from day one of being here, building camaraderie, trust, chemistry on that side of the football,” Heupel said about his fourth-year defensive coordinator.
“The understanding of our scheme, the fundamentals of it, that’s a credit to our players and our coaches. We’re playing really good football right now. As a competitor, you are only as good as our next one. Saturday night, that’s our next test. I do love how physical and how fast we’re playing, and we have to continue to grow. Good teams and good defenses continue to get better. There are plenty of opportunities for us to be better in what we have done up until this point.”
Coverage of this Saturday’s contest will begin at 7:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“Good afternoon, it’s good to be back in the building with the guys. An opportunity to watch film, grow, and learn how we can get better. Good teams continue to get better throughout the course of the season. The challenge for us is to prepare and practice the right way so that we can go play our best football on Saturday. Looking forward to being back in Neyland, seeing our fans and having the opportunity to kick off again with this group.”
On being aggressive on offense with a young quarterback (Nico Iamaleava)…
“His body language, demeanor and composure leads you to believe that he’s going to go play the next play independently. We don’t want to turn the ball over, would like a couple of those back, but one thing we learned about him is how he is going to respond to something that doesn’t go positive or doesn’t go his way and he came back and played the next play independently and played it like the first play of the game.”
On having a win where the rush offense and defense lead the way despite offensive critics…
“That’s laughable to me, to be honest. You look at our ability to run the football since we have been here, statistically over the last decade we have always run the ball really efficiently and effectively. We have balance and we do create big plays in the pass game but we create those things in the run game too. I was proud of the physicality we played with on the offensive line and our tight ends and running backs played that way too. Same thing on the other side of the football, you look at the way our front seven played at the line of scrimmage and that was a big part of the football game.
On cleaning up personal foul penalties…
“You have got to play smart football and you can’t do things that hurt yourself. Keenan (Keenan Pili) wasn’t trying to be egregious on his, he thought the running back was still coming at him. We got to be smart, you know special teams the first couple of weeks got a couple penalties. Can’t change the field position game and we have got to continue to grow in that area.”
On how to balance the player/coach and inner kid excitement on the field…
“I am still a kid at heart. You have got to enjoy it. This game is hard, they got good coaches and scholarships too. Every Saturday you look at scores across America and every Saturday it unfolds differently. That is why you have got to prepare and practice the same way and be consistent in that and be an elite competitor everyday not just on game day. We talked about that inside of our team room today, but man, if you are not going to enjoy the opportunities that you get and if you are successful then I think you are missing the boat. We try to have fun inside of our building, after a game or in the locker room but it’s also every day. We should be enjoying what we are doing and who we are doing with and we do inside this building.”
What is his opinion of the defense that changes your play call from play to play…
“Every Saturday is going to unfold differently, from the structure that you are seeing from the opponent in all three phases of the game, to how the game unfolds. You try to be smart and aggressive in everything that we do. We want to play with an aggressive mentality, I want our coaches to call it aggressive, let our players go make plays, put them in the position to make plays. You have to play extremely smart in situational football too. Two-minute drive at the end of the half, when we are in a position to get it going, we have a penalty. Tried to play some smart football there at the end and make sure we got points knowing we were getting the ball coming out in the second half as well.”
On the element the use of tight ends brings to the offense during a game by allowing flexibility…
“For us, historically at points in our career, we have been able to do that because of the depth of the room. With everything that we faced when we first got here, scholarship reductions, we try to be smart and build for our future, protecting the current roster. We haven’t had the luxury to do that, now those things for us that we have been working on through spring ball and training camp. Our guys went out and executed and played in a really good way.”
On how his expectation of the defense has changed over the past two games and how Tim Banks has played a role in this…
“First of all, Tim (Banks) has done an unbelievable job. That’s really from day one of being here, building camaraderie, trust, chemistry on that side of the football. All of our assistant coaches in our position room, as we have continued to build our roster then we are able to play more guys which is important. The understanding of our scheme, the fundamentals of it, that’s a credit to our players and our coaches. We’re playing really good football right now. As a competitor, you are only as good as our next one. Saturday night, that’s our next test. I do love how physical and how fast we’re playing and we have to continue to grow. Good teams and good defenses continue to get better. There are plenty of opportunities for us to be better in what we have done up until this point.”
On where the unselfishness of the team comes from…
“At the end of the day it comes from your leadership inside your position rooms. Guys being selfless knowing that it is important to celebrate the guys around you and you pour into them. When new guys come into the building and those guys showing them what it looks like to be a Volunteer and what it looks like to be a player inside of this building. They help them grow as players, out on the practice field you see players coaching up their teammates as much as you see coaches doing it. It’s awesome to see the energy, comradery, chemistry, and excitement that they have for the other guys in the position room.”
On what he has seen from James Pearce Jr the first few games and what teams are doing to slow him down…
“He’s played really well. He’s applied pressure to the quarterback and hasn’t got home, but he’s been disruptive. He’s done a really good job in the run game. The other night, he does a great job as a dropper in some of our pressure packages, matching out the skill personnel out in space, so he’s played really well. In this game, man you just keep plugging away and stats are stats. At the end of day, it’s about wins and losses and continuing to execute your assignment.
On what he expects from Kent State and the challenges they will cause…
“For us defensively, heavy mix of zone, inside outside zone and a lot of window dressing with motions, shifts and trade. We have to do a great job of being gap sound and communicate at a high level. Offensively, multiple in their coverages and a lot of pressure, so we have to do a great job of identification, that’s in run games, pass pro and protecting the quarterback when we are dropping back. We have to win some one on ones.
On what encouraged him about Nico responding well against the pressure against NC State…
“We can be better at points within our technique, wasn’t true misidentification. We have to be a little bit better within our fundamentals and technique at times, and that’s everybody, its running back, the offensive line and our tight ends were involved in it as well. Couple of times he has a little deep in the pocket too, which applies pressure to the tackles. It’s all eleven operating as one. I made that point to our offense this morning, and that’s in everything we are doing.”
On how hard it is getting everyone’s attention to get better with the opponent coming in this week…
“You can go back and look at the scores from across America each week, and there’s examples of guys that didn’t prepare, didn’t practice right and didn’t have the right competitive spirit to go take advantage of their next opportunity. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. We started in mid-January. You better have the right mindset. There’s very few opportunities and this is our next one. We have to be ready to go take advantage of it. Our players and our coaches, this morning we were able to show them areas we have to get better in, and that started today for us.”
On how Nico is doing with identifying schemes and working through defenses that he faces…
“As a first-time starter, he’s done an elite job of understanding our concepts and getting us into a good play if we are not in one and taking advantage of what he is seeing from the second and third level off of those structures. He’s done a really good job as a decision-maker and controlling what we are doing.”
On the status of Cam Seldon, Jakobe Thomas and Kalib Perry…
“Cameron Seldon, Jakobe Thomas and Kalib Perry. We will see as the week goes on, but I anticipate all those guys being available for us this week.”
RS-Senior DL Bryson Eason
On the defense getting lots of praise following Saturday’s win over NC State…
“It feels great for us to get that recognition. I feel like we’ve been one of the better units or defensive teams in the country and what not. It feels good, but we have just got to keep working and continue to get better and turn whatever they are talking about now into elite status. There is always room for improvement.”
On the mentality that comes with rotating a lot on the defensive line…
“I don’t feel like it’s a sacrifice at all because a lot of guys in that room could not be in that room and be playing at other places and thriving. It’s really a blessing for us to have that many guys that can play on the elite level. Like I said earlier, there’s no drop off. Me personally, I feel like it’s a great thing because you don’t want to be out there dog tired. We’re human. We’re football players, we’re going to get tired in the trenches, so I think it’s a great thing that we can split reps and still execute and still be elite and create havoc in the backfield with a lot of guys.”
On if Jaxson Moi has surprised him with how effective he’s been…
“He doesn’t surprise me at all. I’ve seen him go to work since the spring and all of fall camp. He’s helped me with some things on my game. I’ve taken some stuff from his game to add to mine, so I’m not surprised at all. Jaxson’s a dog. He works real hard. He’s very polite, very down to earth but when you put the hammer down in between them lines he is a whole different person. (His) whole mentality changes, so I’m surprised at all from Jaxson.”
Junior TE Holden Staes
On the success of the 12 personnel package against NC State…
“I think it was successful just because it allowed us to create a lot of different mismatch problems for the NC State defense. Particularly me and (Miles Kitselman), going into that game we knew we would be heavily used in the run game and just create seams for our backs. We took pride in that going into the game and just wanted to be the guys that opened up the run and allowed us to throw the ball downfield as a result of that. So, going in that was the game plan. I feel like we did it really well. I was happy with the way I played, just throwing my hat in there and being physical and helping the team ultimately get a win.”
On if the 12 personnel could be used at any time again this season…
“Yeah for sure. I think we definitely have the talent in the room to do it. That’s one thing me, Ethan Davis and Miles Kitselman always talk about, just being on the field at the same time, just creating a lot of problems for the defense. So, that is one thing the coaches have talked about and just knowing that we’re capable of doing it, they put a lot on our plate last week. Obviously, we don’t play in 12 a lot, so there are some new things we had to learn but we took it as a challenge and we were excited about it, and I think the result of that was playing well on Saturday, so we’re happy with it.”
On the mindset the tight ends have when defenses drop a lot of players into coverage and present opportunities to run the ball…
“Going into the game we knew with NC State’s defense, they’re three down front (and) that’s what they have the opportunity to do is drop eight in coverage, so we said we’re going to take advantage of that and just run the ball and ultimately make them fit the run, so that was the plan going in. We just wanted to use that as our advantage and be super physical, and as the game wore on you could tell that we were getting after them pretty good and they didn’t want to tackle towards the end of the game and that’s how those big runs opened up, so it definitely helped.”
Junior WR Squirrel White
On his interaction with Nico Iamaleava before his long reception in the game on Saturday…
“We watched the film. We have the little tablets over there (on the sideline). We saw (the look we wanted), we went back to it and then we executed.”
On embracing his role as a punt returner…
“I embrace it a lot. Getting the ball in my hands, I feel like I can do something with it. On punt returns, you have guys blocking for me. They do a great job of blocking and putting me in positions for me to hit runs.”
On if it is frustrating when a defense drops a lot of defenders into coverage and the wide receivers have to adjust their roles…
“It’s not frustrating at all. We have a deep running back room back there. If we need to block, we’ll block. We’ll be physical. When our time comes, our time will come, and we’ll execute.”
