KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Knoxville native running back DeSean Bishop received significant carries, the defensive line set the tone and Tennessee football concluded its eighth preseason camp workout with a two-hour scrimmage under Friday night lights in Neyland Stadium.
With players’ families in attendance, the Volunteers went live tackle with ones, twos and threes, while working special teams and short-yardage situations in their first scrimmage of the fall.
“It’s great at this point to get to scrimmage day and find out a lot about our football team,” head coach Josh Heupel said. “Great to be under the lights here inside of Neyland Stadium. Tonight, we had a bunch of families that were out watching their sons go compete, so it was a lot of fun just hanging out with them a little bit before we got started with warmups.”
Bishop joined redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava with the ones during the scrimmage as a few seasoned veterans, including starter Dylan Sampson, did not participate. The former Karns High School standout totaled 8,347 rushing yards and 102 rushing touchdowns over the course of his prep career before joining the Vols and redshirting last season after being injured in fall camp.
“He is very consistent,” Heupel said. “Really proud of how he has rebounded from the injury, just his continued growth as a person, just the way he approaches every day and how he comes into the building. He has great vision and great pace. He does a really good job of using the blockers in front of him and setting those blockers up. He ran with great pad level tonight.”
The Vols utilized the new helmet communication and sideline tablets on Friday night on both offense and defense, simulating what a typical game day would look like.
“We had a trial run with all the changes inside of college football,” Heupel said. “The headset communication, we’ve been using that at practice as well. Tonight, that was really pretty seamless. We used the iPads on the sideline as well, tried to structure in some timeouts where we got a chance to figure out how we’re going to use it, operate it and all the logistics that go with it.”
While preseason All-American James Pearce Jr. continued to show his dominance upfront, several Vol defensive backs are looking to make their mark after a knee injury earlier this week sidelined likely STAR starter Jourdan Thomas for the remainder of the season. The back end of that secondary includes Andre Turrentine, Christian Harrison, Christian Charles, Will Brooks, John Slaughter, Jakobe Thomas and promising true freshman Boo Carter.
“I hate it for him,” Heupel said of Thomas’ injury. “That’s a guy that has steadily grown inside our program as a player, as a person off the field, as a leader inside of our room. That’s the tough thing about this game. He has handled it with a ton of maturity. Just being in the building, being around. Being out here tonight with the guys. It matters to him, and the guys care about him in a great way too.”
Tennessee will take Saturday off before returning to the field for back-to-back practice days on Sunday and Monday.
The Vols are three weeks away from kickoff in Neyland Stadium against Chattanooga on Aug. 31. Game time is set for 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network. A special edition of “SEC Now” hosted by Peter Burns will air live from the field level at noon. Limited tickets remain on sale for the contest at AllVols.com.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Aug. 9, 2024
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“It’s great at this point to get to scrimmage day and find out a lot about our football team. Excited to go watch the video here tonight and get them in the building tomorrow. Great to be under the lights here inside of Neyland Stadium. Tonight, we had a bunch of families that were out watching their sons go compete, so it was a lot of fun just hanging out with them a little bit before we got started with warmups. It was a great night for Tennessee football.”
On who stood out offensively during the scrimmage…
“I thought DeSean Bishop had a really nice night. Efficient, effective, ran hard. I thought he did a really nice job. I thought our wideouts did a nice job of operation. (Chris Brazzell II) and obviously (Squirrel White), but also seeing (Chas Nimrod) and (Kaleb Webb) out there competing and playing extremely well. I thought the quarterbacks operated really well for almost the entire night. It was good work.”
On Ethan Davis’ performance on Friday…
“Ethan did a really nice job. The tight ends in general handled themselves really well. From where we finished spring ball, how we started training camp to tonight, just continued growth from that entire group. Ethan Davis made some really nice plays over the middle of the football field. Excited about what he has done, but also what that entire group has done.”
On the back-and-forth response between the offense and defense…
“Hopefully, there’s going to be give and take. In particular though, I thought our defense played extremely hard, played really physical. Early in the scrimmage, they did a great job on third downs. Our front four was relentless. I thought our secondary played really well early in the scrimmage as well. I was really, really pleased with how they started.”
On Nathan Leacock’s progression during fall camp…
“He was injured during a good amount of spring ball, which hampered a little bit of his development. His growth through the summer, but also how he started here in training camp – catching the ball extremely well. Tonight, he did a really nice job playing wide receiver. Efficient, making some plays after the catch as well, and then in special teams, did a really nice job early in the scrimmage when we were in special teams settings.”
On what the secondary did to impress him in the scrimmage…
“For one, they’ve been great for the seven days before we got to the scrimmage tonight. They’re competing extremely hard and take coaching. They’ve made plays, they’ve learned from mistakes. Their athleticism tonight, played some really tight coverage down the field. Just within the game, the subtle details that allow you to play at a really high level. In particular, our corners tonight, I thought they did a really, really good job.”
On using the helmet communication system…
“We had a trial run with all the changes inside of college football. The headset communication, we’ve been using that at practice as well. Tonight, that was really pretty seamless. We used the iPads on the sideline as well, tried to structure in some timeouts where we got a chance to figure out how we’re going to use it, operate it and all the logistics that go with it. There’s a lot more to that than what you would think.”
On how Nico Iamaleava performed in red zone opportunities…
“I thought he looked good throughout the course of the night with his decision-making, body position. I know there are some throws that he’s going to want back, but he played really well.”
On Jourdan Thomas’ injury and Boo Carter playing in the STAR position…
“I haven’t talked to you since Jourdan’s (Thomas) injury I don’t think, and I hate it for him. That’s a guy that has steadily grown inside our program as a player, as a person off the field, as a leader inside of our room. That’s the tough thing about this game. He has handled it with a ton of maturity. Just being in the building, being around. Being out here tonight with the guys. It matters to him, and the guys care about him in a great way too. It gives other guys opportunities. Boo has played really well. I thought the last couple of days even leading into the scrimmage have been his best days within the scope of what we do defensively. Playing within the framework of that and making plays at the same time. He is a young guy that needs to and will continue to get better every day but he is a dynamic playmaker.”
On the performance of Peyton Lewis…
“First time for contact since coming back off the injury. Young player you would expect it, but it’s happened for him. He has gotten better, more comfortable, absolutely every single day. Tonight, a lot of really good things. Playing with great pad level. There are some runs that he’ll have an opportunity to grow from as well.”
On the offensive line…
“Vets in the NFL play too. There is a ramp-up and a build-up to be ready to go play. Some of the guys that have missed the last couple of days got to get back and get some of that work. Whether it necessarily needs to be a scrimmage depends a little bit on the player and the amount of time they have had on task. The balance for myself, our coaching staff is always to have these guys ready to go play. They got to grow as players. They got to be prepared for the opening kickoff and the schedule we are going to go play. At the same time, have them as fresh and healthy and ready to compete for the duration.”
On developing the offensive line…
“As a program, we want that and need that. Everybody here, our fan base, understands how we took this program over and how we have had to have a really detailed plan in managing the space we had to navigate. We are creating more depth but this is a long season. Inside of this league, you get into league play, you got to have multiple guys ready to go. So it’s been important to us this offseason. I have stated that this offseason and we have also talked about that in previous years too. It’s just being able to build that depth.”
On how the scrimmage was structured…
“This one, there were some special teams for us at the very beginning. We got some drives and some coming down. We got to operate the ones, twos, and threes. We let them go play. Tonight was unique because it was the first time that we used iPads on the sidelines. We adjusted and had an opportunity to do that throughout sets.”
On how clean he felt his offense and defense were tonight during the scrimmage…
“I thought the officials actually did a great job on the back end of the scrimmage talking to our football team about some of the things they saw. It was a pretty clean scrimmage for the first scrimmage. Communication, and personnel, there were not any issues with that. There were some playing penalties that we have to get smarter at. That is always the case at this point. You have to learn how to play extremely hard but play with great technique and know when the play is over, and put yourself in a position where you don’t hurt the team.”
On if he thinks the younger players will adapt more to the new technology being used…
“Yeah, I am more concerned about the coaches than I am the players to be honest. It is a better tool than somebody having to draw something up on the whiteboard. Especially for visual learners. It will be a good tool, as long as you use it the right way.”
On who has stepped up or stood out to him at the STAR role…
“Christian Harrison has done a really nice job. We have multiple guys that have bounced around from the safety position to STAR. So we have to continue to develop our guys in the secondary.”
On Gaston Moore and Jake Merklinger operating at the quarterback position tonight…
“Both of them did a great job operating the offense but they really have all training camp. (Jake) Merklinger is a young guy that continues to get better every single day. He has great confidence and works extremely hard at it. He has a really good energy in the huddle. His demeanor is really positive. Gaston (Moore), has done a really fantastic job. Tonight he made some really nice throws out on the run. He has done that all of training camp. He has taken pretty good care of the football throughout the course of training camp too. So, pleased with the development of both of those guys.”
On how Dylan Sampson performed tonight….
“Dylan Sampson was not in the scrimmage tonight. We held him out of the scrimmage.”
On what Will Brooks has done to position himself into the secondary…
“He is a guy that has played a lot of football for us. He has been out on defense obviously and has had a role on special teams. A guy that is a leader inside that secondary room. He has played really well and he is going to play a lot of football for us.”
On what makes DeSean Bishop a great fit for Josh Heupel‘s offense and how he came back from his injury…
“A year ago before he got hurt, really liked how he was flashing at practice and at early scrimmages. He is very consistent. Really proud of how he has rebounded from the injury, just his continued growth as a person, just the way he approaches every day and how he comes into the building. He has great vision and great pace. Does a really good job of using the blockers in front of him and setting those blockers up. He ran with great pad level tonight.”
