KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A talented LSU team awaits No. 8/8 Tennessee this Saturday as the Vols prepare for a rare trip down to the Bayou to take on the 25th-ranked Tigers at noon ET.
UT’s offense and defense know the stiff challenge that awaits down in Baton Rouge this weekend and that another strong week of preparation will be key to the team’s success in a tough road environment.
“It’s going to be a loud environment,” quarterbacks coach Joey Halzle said. “There are going to be some points where it’s difficult to communicate. That’s why you work it all week … You can’t take any lacks in preparation for it because it is going to be a loud and crazy environment. We have to prepare for it the right way.”
The experience of quarterback Hendon Hooker will certainly be a plus for the Big Orange on Saturday, as the redshirt senior has proven to be one of the most poised signal callers in the nation.
“It’s his preparation leading up to it,” Halzle said. “For all the craziness about the environment—whether it’s home or away—once you step in between the white lines, it’s 11-on-11 and you go play ball. Whether you’re prepared or not, that’s where it shows up. Some people do get big-eyed, and the moment gets a little too big when you get in a crazy environment. That is not how he is wired at all. He’s the same dude day-in and day-out.”
Tennessee’s defense will face another dual-threat playmaker at quarterback this weekend in LSU’s Jayden Daniels. The Arizona State transfer has been efficient with his arm but has also utilized his athleticism to hurt teams with his legs, something the Vols’ know they will need to be ready for.
“Jayden is probably a little lighter but still runs as hard and is as elusive,” linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said. “We obviously didn’t do as great of a job as we wanted to versus Anthony (Richardson), so that’s been a big point of emphasis for us, trying to keep the quarterback contained.”
On top of slowing down Daniels, UT’s defense will also need to limit the Tigers’ talented stable of running backs.
“Their running backs are super talented. I think it is one of the better groups that we’ve played so far going into game five,” Jean-Mary said. “They all run extremely hard downhill. They break a lot of arm tackles, and they are going to be a big-time challenge for us.
“The part about them, they’re an integral part of the passing game. They like to get those guys the ball in the flats and let them do their work, almost like an extended hand off. It’s going to be a challenge because they are going to test us from sideline to sideline.”
The Vols have three more prep days before heading down to Baton Rouge on Friday afternoon. Saturday’s game will kickoff at 11 a.m. CT (noon ET) and will be broadcast on ESPN with Bob Wischusen (PxP), Dan Orlovsky (analyst), Todd McShay (sideline analyst) and Kris Budden (sideline reporter) on the call.
Full assistant coach transcripts and select player quotes from Tuesday’s media availabilities can be seen below.
Quarterbacks Coach Joey Halzle
On Hendon Hooker leading the SEC in completion percentage and yards per attempt, an unusual combination…
“Hendon (Hooker) is playing at an extremely high level right now. He’s earned everything he’s getting. That guy puts in more time and preparation than anyone I’ve ever been around, and you’re seeing all of that pay off. It didn’t start in-season, it started in January. When he decided to come back, he was making an effort to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Right now, that’s what you’re seeing, is the fruit of that labor. He is playing at an extremely high level right now.”
On Hendon Hooker’s running ability…
“That’s what makes him special. There’s a lot of guys that can throw it efficiently, which he can, but what makes him scary to opposing defenses is that at any point he can get out and go. He’s one of the best call carriers on the field anytime he has the ball, too. You have that combination together, that’s why he’s one of the elite players in the country right now.”
On if communication is easier in a tough environment when running a fast-paced offense…
“One, it’s going to be a loud environment, like you just said. There are going to be some points where it’s difficult to communicate. That’s why you work it all week. You don’t have the ebb and the flow (with an up-tempo offense), where the crowd knows when the huddle is breaking, and they can start building up. If you’re pushing your tempo and playing ahead of the chains, it does help with that. But still, you can’t take any lacks in preparation for it because it is going to be a loud and crazy environment. We have to prepare for it the right way.”
On what makes Hendon Hooker play well on the road and at home…
“It’s similar to the first answer. It’s his preparation leading up to it. For all the craziness about the environment—whether it’s home or away—once you step in between the white lines, it’s 11-on-11 and you go play ball. Whether you’re prepared or not, that’s where it shows up. Some people do get big-eyed and the moment gets a little too big when you get in a crazy environment. That is not how he is wired at all. That’s why you’re seeing the same guy at home, crazy environment at home, not as much on the road, it doesn’t matter. He’s the same dude day-in and day-out.”
On how Hendon Hooker’s performance affects play calling and other guys on the field…
“The way he is playing right now, it gives you confidence. I think as a staff, you can put the ball in his hands and feel good about what’s going to happen with it, whether that’s situationally or normal down situations. As far as the effect on the team, he doesn’t have to be a guy that’s overly vocal. He’s growing in that. Now that everyone is seeing the way he prepares and the way he plays on Saturday, and that’s permeating the entire locker room right now where you see that is the way to handle your business, and you will get the results. That’s not just coach speak, it’s actual facts. When you put in the work, you get the results.”
On stressing confidence versus playing smart to Hendon Hooker…
“We’ve always discussed being intelligent situationally as far as taking care of yourself. We talked about it a bunch with him. We talked about it in pregame, talked about it leading up to it, talked about it on the sidelines, but at the end of the day, one of the best things about Hendon (Hooker) is that he’s the fiercest competitor I’ve ever been around. You can’t take that away from a guy either. He is intelligent about the way he carries himself. Maybe there are some times where he could’ve protected himself, but there’s also plays that he makes where if he’s trying to just worry about protecting himself, he doesn’t make those plays. You can never take that away from a guy either, who they are as a person. He’ll keep growing on the other end of it.”
On how Hendon Hooker does not put the ball in harm’s way…
“It’s the front-end preparation where he knows what he’s going to get. When you get your unscouted looks, he’s able to process so quickly—which is key to playing quarterback, especially in this system. He processes, he can eliminate right now, and he can get to his second, third and fourth read. That’s what he’s doing at an extremely high level. As his reps grew last year, that’s what you saw him doing as he was moving throughout the season. That’s what he started off doing this year. Because of the preparation and his ability to process and eliminate quickly, he gets himself out of bad plays first and foremost. Now, he’s making the big plays on top of getting himself out of the bad plays first.”
On if Hendon Hooker has surpassed staff expectations this year…
“He makes a couple of plays per game where you just kind of go, “Wow.” There was one where a guy comes free on a third down on the two-minute drive against Florida last week where he sets, rolls out to his left, makes a throw back inside on third-and-9 and keeps the drive going that ends up being probably the biggest drive of the game. We talk about preparation, you talk about his practice habits, now that’s just him taking over as a player. The stuff that you don’t coach that makes guys special, and it separates good from special. He’s making those special plays right now.”
On how much better Hendon Hooker’s decision-making is…
“Compared to last August, it’s not even close. I think what you’re seeing is the way he’s playing it and throwing the ball after he’s making the decisions. He was always good at finding the read keys, doing all of that stuff because he’s an intelligent kid and works hard at it. Now you’re seeing on top of it, the body language, confidence and the way he’s driving it, snapping it and ripping it all over the field. Now he’s not just trying not to make a mistake or trying to find the right key. He knows what he’s going to do, and that’s why you’re seeing the ball ripping all over the field from him, because now the two of those things are playing together.”
On if Hendon Hooker is more accurate in these throws compared to last year…
“Absolutely. One hundred percent. From the deep ball to the intermediate to his quick game, he’s completely changed who he is as a player.”
On LSU’s secondary…
“LSU is still LSU. They have good players. They have long guys that can run, hit and they’re extremely competitive. You see guys that are flying around hitting people and playing extremely hard. That’s how they play. That’s who they are. Expect nothing else on Saturday. They’re going to come and try to hit us right in the mouth, and we’re going to have to answer that. It’s going to be a great environment to do it, too.”
Linebackers Coach Brian Jean-Mary
On preparing for LSU QB Jayden Daniels after facing Florida…
“That is a great question, they are very similar. Different body types. Obviously (Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson) is a little heavier, in the 230-plus range. Jayden is probably a little lighter but still runs as hard and is as elusive. We obviously didn’t do as great of a job as we wanted to versus Anthony, so that’s been a big point of emphasis for us, trying to keep the quarterback contained. But (Daniels) is a super talented kid; they probably had a couple more designed runs in the last game, obviously trying to take advantage of his elusiveness. But we have to do a great job. I think they are comparable as athletes and as runners, but Anthony being a little bigger might be a little bit more of a ‘between the tackles’ guy, where Jayden is probably a little more off tackle.”
On the benefit of playing against similar offensive styles back-to-back…
“Obviously there’s carry-over. Every week, you expect there to be some carry-over. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. Most people watch film, and they try to take advantage of what they see, what’s a possible weakness from the previous opponent. So, anything that they thought the opponent did well, I’m pretty sure they will try to capitalize on it some way. There’s always things that we have to get corrected, so we always look at ourselves first and what we can correct. But obviously with another athletic quarterback, we feel like we have some things in place to try to contain them. But a lot of their plays, just like (Anthony) Richardson last week, come off of broken plays. That’s what makes those guys special. They have designed runs, but if it’s a pass play and it turns into a scramble scenario, you get a chance to see some of that athletic ability. You can practice and plan for it, but when you have high-level athletes like Richardson and (Jayden) Daniels this week, you have to be able to overcome some of those broken plays when there was a pass play that was actually called.”
On the breakdowns against Florida defensively in the passing game and how much of the responsibility fell onto the linebackers…
“I always say it’s everybody’s responsibility. Everybody sees the DB’s that are obviously in the 1-on-1 situations with the ball getting thrown down field, but they don’t see if there was a pass-rush error up front, a blitz error from the linebacker, some of the underneath coverages that we were in and we didn’t do a good job. We take full responsibility, because there were a few times that there were blitzes that weren’t executed at a high level. We gave the quarterback too much time to sit in the pocket, or it was a scramble scenario where we didn’t do a great job of latching. It’s always all eleven. I know everybody sees the end result, but we always put it on the entire defense. Like I said, the best pass defense in the world is a great pass rush, so we’re trying to hone in on that and do a better job in that regard. We have to do a better job linebacker-wise as far as some of our underneath coverages.”
On what he has seen in LSU’s running backs…
“Their running backs are super talented. I think it is one of the better groups that we’ve played so far going into game five. As a collective group, they rotate three guys. The young man that took the majority of the reps the first couple of games, (Armoni) Goodwin, is out, but between (John) Emery, (Josh) Williams, and obviously Noah Cain, I think they’re all interchangeable. They all run extremely hard downhill. They break a lot of arm tackles, and they are going to be a big-time challenge for us. The part about them, they’re an integral part of the passing game. They like to get those guys the ball in the flats and let them do their work, almost like an extended hand off. It’s going to be a challenge because they are going to test us from sideline to sideline, but they do run hard. They are a good group.”
On his philosophy about containing the quarterback…
“We always talk about rush lanes with our d-line, and I can’t just say the d-line, linebackers and the (defensive backs) that blitz. That is another point of emphasis. We want to be a pressuring team, so we don’t necessarily want to have a fence at the line of scrimmage because we do not want to give them a lot of time. We do stress the rush lanes, not rushing past the quarterback or giving up inside gaps. That is something we talk about all the time. That is a point of emphasis this week. We are going to try and keep him in the pocket, I mean, obviously that is easier said than done because he is so talented. That is a point of emphasis for us in trying to stay in front of him and not end up behind him in our pass rushing.”
On how hard it is to play linebacker in college football right now…
“It’s a challenge. You’re going to be in some kind of conflict almost every play. You have to play sideline to sideline with the spread offenses. You’re going to get conflict with the RPO as far as running-and-pass. Then you have to be able to defend some pretty good athletes in space. Most people are going to try and find mismatches, so a lot of times you will see some of their high-end receivers of the teams that you play, they line them up as a slot receiver or put in as a boundary, too, so they can match them up against linebackers. It’s a challenge, I think it is difficult. I joke with them all the time saying, ‘I’m glad I played linebacker in the years I did, because I don’t know if I would be playing linebacker right now.’ But it’s part of the job description and I think we got some high-end guys that are athletic enough and play the game the right way that they put themselves in positions to make plays and it gives us the opportunity to play good defense.”
On Elijah Herring’s role…
“Everything is earned. We don’t give anybody anything. He earned a spot when we go into our 4-3 package to be the SAM linebacker. That is kind of his role right now and he is still growing every down. Still, some of the youthful mistakes show up, which is to be expected. He plays the right way, and he plays with a lot of energy. He is getting better every week. You know how it is, sometimes, it’s like rookies in the NFL, there is a reason they do not play a lot. That’s the same reason for freshmen in college. That experience means a lot. Every day he is getting better but, as always, there are one or two things you got to keep working on. I think with experience and time he’s going to be very, very good. Like I always say, we want him to be perfect yesterday. That is how us coaches are, but it is a process. He has a great attitude and is getting better every day.”
On how it feels watching a player get his first career sack and getting to talk with him about it after…
“For myself individually, I am always happy for all these guys. I think in college football now, we ask so much of these kids 24/7. It is almost a full-time job, and it is nothing different than what is going on around the country. So, when they are able to have some success and go out there in front of a packed stadium and make those kind of plays, I am the happiest guy in the building because I feel like they earned it. Football is a tough sport for tough people. It is not for everybody, so when they can go out there, make plays, and play at a high level, I am the happiest guy in the building. Sometimes it doesn’t look that way, but I am always 100 percent for these kids because I know the time and effort they put in trying to be the best players they can be.”
On if it is more important to have great play recognition versus having great speed playing linebacker…
“Obviously as a coach you want both, right? You want both. I always say this about kids who have great speed: the speed is beneficial when you have great play recognition. If you’re a very fast player and you’re going the wrong direction, you are going farther away from the play. We want to have both. So, play recognition will always be the premium when you’re dealing with linebackers. Obviously, play recognition when you top that with high-end athletic ability and speed you are going to see it and get there faster which makes the defense better. The play recognition part is always the most important because, like I said, if you’re a great athlete but your eyes are in the wrong spot, you’re just getting to the wrong spot faster.”
Junior WR Jalin Hyatt
On stepping up after Cedric Tillman’s injury…
“It’s just preparation. We knew we had to step up, especially with one of our big-time receivers out. We just want to keep going with the preparation that we are doing each week and for game day. So, when we’re focused throughout the week, that’s the outcome we want on Saturdays.”
On his pregame predictions…
“It’s just one of those things where I want to just put in the air and let everything fall out. I don’t have a prediction this week. That was just one of those things where everything worked out perfectly. My main focus is playing the game that I know I can play to help this team, to help these players and be a leader in that room, especially with guys that are down, just being a leader in that room. That’s another thing I want to do and just grow on.”
On Tennessee’s national rankings…
“As a team we don’t even pay attention to any of the rankings or anything. We can only control what we can control. I think that’s the biggest thing. We control what we can control on Saturdays; how we come out, how we play on offense, how we do on drives and how we can sustain in the third quarter and the fourth quarter. It’s really on us. We don’t pay attention to outside noise. Win, loss or draw, we just continue to play University of Tennessee ball.”
Senior DB Jaylen McCollough
On the opportunity going to a different venue like LSU this weekend…
“It’s a blessing. Anytime you get to strap on the cleats and put on the pads on any given Saturday it’s a blessing. I am excited. I know we’re excited as a team. We’re just ready to play. We’re ready to go down there and play Tennessee football.”
On Florida throwing different looks and formations at them…
“Florida threw a lot of different formations, different motions, different shifts at us, but that’s what team are going to do. They are going to try and attack us in different ways we haven’t seen. Maybe a formation here, a motion or a shift there. It all comes down to the details and the little things. That is something that we took great pride in, taking a step from Florida into the off weekend, and now into LSU.”
On having a coach like Josh Heupel telling them to embrace the big game environment…
“That’s his biggest message, is to prepare. It’s good to have somebody who’s been there because he’s talking from experience. He gives us everything we need to know as far as preparation, as far as just the mental aspect of leading up to kickoff. It’s helped us out tremendously in the past two years.”
Senior DL Byron Young
On LSU’s offensive line…
“They’ve got a really big offensive line. They’re really well coached, I’d say. Big guys, the tackles are quick on their feet. Some things that I’ve seen is that they’re an up-tempo offense. They are pretty good with their movements. We just got to do our assignments. I feel like we will be okay.”
On the ending of the Florida game…
“I just believed in my DBs. I just knew I had to get to them. Just had to make him (Florida QB Anthony Richardson) uncomfortable. I just got off the ball, it would’ve been the last rep, so I just gave everything I had. At first, it was the first rush and I kind of stopped a little bit and then I saw Tyler (Baron) coming around. I saw him try and step up, so I just came around real fast and just made a play happen. Then we had the backend and had Kamal (Hadden) finish the game.”
On if he likes playing early games…
“I think I played one so far. It’s okay with me. Either way you got to play, so it doesn’t matter. Night game, early game, in the morning, it doesn’t matter – I’ll be ready to go any time.”
-UT Athletics
