#VolReport: Vols Prep For #3 Rebels

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols head to Ole Miss for the first time in five years this weekend to take on the #3 Rebels. Butch Jones has his Vols ready for yet another challenge in the SEC, the best league in the nation.

“All we know is it’s the next game,” said Jones, “the #3 team in the country at their place. It’s a great opportunity.”

Jones acknowledges that the Rebels have a team deserving of their ranking by strong performances on both offense and defense.

“They are very, very explosive,” Jones said of Ole Miss, “tremendous ball skills, can high point the ball, run after the catch, great length, very complete, very, very confident group and very rightfully so.”

Offensive leader and quarterback Bo Wallace will be a challenge for the Vols’ defense as he has thrown 15 touchdowns, ran for two more and is a strong, athletic player. The Orange Swarm who have intercepted the ball nine times and have 49 tackles for a loss, will have yet another mobile quarterback to defend against.

“Playmaker, managing their offense, very confident,” Jones said on Wallace and the offense he leads. “I think they have taken on his personality, expects to make plays and just a tremendous, tremendous competitor,” You can see that on film right away.”

On the defensive side, the Vols will be challenged against an Ole Miss offensive line that looks similar to another opponent according to Jordan Williams with their size and athleticism.

“They kind of remind me a little bit of Oklahoma’s O-Line,” said Williams, “real big guys in the middle. They’re real big physical guys. It’s going to be a challenge.”

The offense will have to prepare themselves of a Rebels defense that can disguise their schemes and move quick.

“I think it’s a combination,” Jones said. “They do a great job of disguising their coverages but also their speed and athleticism. When they disguise the coverages, they’re quick to read and react, and they’re playing with a lot of confidence. There are no weaknesses on their defense. They do a very good job schematically mixing things up.”

Quarterback Justin Worley knows the tall task in front of him with the Ole Miss’ stout defense, which is ranked second in the nation in scoring defense (11.8 points per game).

“We’re going to have to do a good job of getting the post snap confirmation, be able to see things after the ball is snapped,” said Worley. “They’re very physical and very fast up front as well. We have our hands full again. It’s the SEC week in and week out. We’re facing the top defenses in the country. We definitely have our work cut out for us.”

STRIPES COME OFF

A pair of freshmen had their stripes removed on Tuesday. Starting placekicker Aaron Medley and tailback Derrell Scottwere recognized by the players’ staff and had their black stripes taken off their practice helmets.

Medley has started all six games and comes off a sensational game on Saturday where he boomed seven kickoffs for touchbacks. Medley has converted 9-of-12 field goal attempts and made all 19 PATs.

Scott made his Vols debut on Saturday and ran for 42 yards on nine carries after sitting out the first five games.

OWEN WILLIAMS COULD PLAY SATURDAY

After undergoing surgery on his thumb and missing last Saturday’s game vs. Chattanooga, junior defensive tackle Owen Williams could play as soon as Saturday at Ole Miss.

“Right now we will know a little bit more probably on Thursday but he is getting a lot of conditioning in,” said Butch Jones. “He gets the cast off, I believe, tomorrow or Thursday, gets the stitches out. There is a possibility he will be available to play on Saturday.”

GAINING THE EXTRA EDGE

Although Ethan Wolf is only a freshman, the Vols’ starting tight end is gaining veteran experience at a rapid rate on Rocky Top. Only six games into his playing career with Tennessee, the true freshman has already experienced starting time in SEC opponent territory, a brief – yet concerning – injury and has effectively gained 134 receiving yards on 15 catches this year.

For Wolf, the reality of his freshman year has been a blur. Time is flying by, but he is beginning to feel like the influential player he aspires to be.

“It’s gone by fast, but there is still a lot left to do,” Wolf said. “I didn’t know how much time I was going to get [coming in]. I just knew I was going to come in and work my butt off to get to the point where I could possibly play. My expectations were there and I am extremely fortunate and happy with what I’m able to do so far this season.”

While briefly sidelined with a knee injury earlier this season, Wolf was thankful for the opportunity to learn from watching his peers. Now back to 100 percent and having reclaimed his starting role, he continues to see the huge upside his freshman group holds.

“We got thrown into the fire and now, I’ve almost been here for a year,” Wolf said. “I do feel a little bit older than I am, which is exciting because I have a lot of time to improve the small mistakes in my game and get stronger. We have a lot of guys out there and it’s exciting to see how much time we have to get bigger, stronger, faster and smarter.”

Entering this weekend’s matchup against Ole Miss, Wolf continues to prepare alongside his freshmen teammates, adding that the camaraderie, knowledge and support among the entire offensive unit has played a major role in his development.

“It helps a lot. You have guys who you can go and talk to, get tips from,” Wolf said. “We’re trying to do all we can to get an advantage on people, get out of our freshman bodies and contribute like upperclassmen.”

MO TIME FOR E-MO

After seeing sophomore cornerback Michael Williams go down with an injury against Florida, true freshman Emmanuel Moseley has seen a significant increase in playing time.

He says that his willingness to stay prepared each week has helped him ease into a more prominent role on the field.

“It helped a lot, because it happened real fast,” he said of his entry to the game. “When Michael Williams, a great player, when he went to go make that tackle, he got injured. Coach called my name right away, so I knew it was my time. But I was prepared, I had my chinstrap ready.”

The freshman said that sophomore cornerback Cam Sutton has played a major role in preparing him for more playing time.

“Cam is a great guy. He makes a lot of interceptions, as you guys see,” he said. “He teaches me to do better in my technique and how to play the ball better, so that’s what I’ve been learning from him. We’ve just been in the film room catching up on film.

“He’s great. He watches the receivers – he watches them very deeply – he watches all his moves. That’s what he’s translated to me.”

While Moseley says he is happy with how he has performed in his first major action the last two games, he also knows there is still plenty of opportunity for him to improve.

“I think I’ve been doing pretty good,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep adjusting to the SEC speed, which I think I’m doing a great job doing. I just want to get better at my craft and do great things.”

JACKSON EMBRACING LEADERSHIP ROLE

As the most experienced player on the offensive line, junior guard Marcus Jackson says he has embraced the leadership role he has been thrust into this season.

“It’s a conscious effort, but it’s an ever-growing process,” he said of being a leader. “You’ve got to learn, there’s a lot of ways to lead, and you learn that you’ve got to lead guys every day. It’s not out of my comfort zone, but you’ve got to make sure that you bring it every day, and make sure that you set the example and you bring guys along.”

As a player who once started as a freshman, Jackson knows what true freshmen Coleman Thomas and Jashon Robertson are going through this season, and says he is trying his best to lead them along the way.

“Coleman and Jashon probably have it a little rougher than I did since they’ve started since day one,” he said. “I started probably about week seven, so I took all my lumps in practice and I was pretty good when I came in. So it’s just a little process, they’re just taking their lumps on Saturdays instead of in practice.

“We definitely talk to them and make sure they’re keeping they’re head up, and just knowing that every time something bad happens, just know how to correct it and keep on pushing.”

SOUND BITES

Here are sound bites from #Team118:

HEAD COACH BUTCH JONES

»(On Johnathon Johnson)

“Well a lot of that is playing with great instincts, takes coaching, the fine details. Playing wide receiver is a detail position. There is so much that goes into it, from your stance, your starts, your releases, you route technique, understanding man or zone, understanding the tools, the tricks of the trade, working your craft. He understands that. He understands leverage, he understands leverage releases. So I think just an overall understanding on how to get open and he does a great job. And he has very, very good ball skills. He is able to adjust to the ball in the air.”

»(On the defense’s increase in tackles for loss from last year)

“We are much, much more athletic upfront. We are much more quicker off the ball. I think our defensive front are using their hands much better. Also our linebackers. I think the addition of Jalen Reeves-Maybin, with his speed and athleticism, has also helped. So I think it is a combination of a lot of little things but I think it starts, first of all, with their athleticism, they are playing with better leverage and their get off.”

SENIOR QUARTERBACK JUSTIN WORLEY

»(On what the team needs to do to slow down the Ole Miss pass rush)

“We have to do a good job up front. We have to execute. We can’t have some of these mental errors that we’ve had the last few weeks. Other than that it should be the same old offense from us. A couple nuances we put in every week but we just have to go out there and execute.”

»(On the offense and receivers)

“Every week is a big week for us. I keep on saying we have to go out and execute. I think we’re a really strong offense if we can do that. It’s in our hands at this point I think. If we go out there and run our offense well and execute, I think we can score some points on them and compete well. If not, it might be a long day for us, but I have faith in these guys and we had a good work day today. I’m excited for this week.”

JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER JOHNATHON JOHNSON

»(On matching Ole Miss’ physicality)

“We have to. That’s something our coaches preach every Saturday. All of their DBs are big guys, very physical, so we have to go in there and be physical ourselves.”

»(On what makes Ole Miss so good on defense)

“They work together. They are a very experienced crew, great athletes, they see the ball well, they don’t make any mistakes and they’re very athletic. They do a good job disguising coverage, so we have to stay locked in.”

SENIOR DEFENSIVE BACK JUSTIN COLEMAN

»(On capitalizing on the team’s energy from last week)

“That’s just something that drives us. Nobody likes losing. We try to go off of the wins. We won last week and we’re going to keep it going. We’re going to turn up the intensity and play a lot harder because we know that any team can get beat at any time.”

»(On Vol fans wanted to checkerboard opponent stadiums)

“I know the fans are really supportive. It excites me that they’re willing to do a checkerboard at stadiums. Not many fans could get that done but it shows that they’re really supportive and are willing to be there for us.”

SENIOR DEFENSIVE LINEMAN JORDAN WILLIAMS

»(On how the Ole Miss offensive line matches up to previous opponents)

“They kind of remind me a little bit of Oklahoma’s o-line, real big guys in the middle. They’re real big physical guys. It’s going to be a challenge.”

»(On what the key is to stopping teams in the red zone)

“The key in that area is just be ready every play. When they have a little tempo going, we just have to be prepared.”

»(On excelling in the tackles for loss)

“That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so great on third down conversions. It’s a big part of our linebackers but it’s also a big part of our d-line just playing their positions and holding their gaps down.”

SOPHOMORE DEFENSIVE BACK CAMERON SUTTON

»(On how he baits quarterbacks)

“Just different techniques. Not keeping my technique the same every time going against a receiver, or not showing the same coverage with the quarterback and things like that. Just playing a psychological game of getting in the heads of the receivers and the quarterbacks, showing different tendencies that they didn’t show before.”

»(On film study)

“Just a lot of film study – reading a lot of receivers’ routes and stems and how they come out of the huddle and things like that…looking at the quarterback, looking at their progressions and things like that throughout the course of the game…looking at how they target receivers, how they throw the ball, when they throw the ball…just a lot of things like that.

JUNIOR DEFENSIVE BACK LaDARRELL McNEIL

»(On the reasons for his improved play)

“Just a lot of meetings with my coaches, a lot of meetings with the captains on the team, especially in the back-end. Brian Randolph and Todd Kelly, we just kind of push each other and increase our confidence.”

»(On competition with Todd Kelly Jr.)

“We just feed off each other. That way, if he messes up, I can help him with something. If I mess up, he can help me, also. We just really want to impact the game and play well with each other.”

FRESHMAN TIGHT END ETHAN WOLF

»(On readjusting his mindset for SEC play)

“No, I don’t think so. You go into every game wanting to win and give your all because you only get so many opportunities. You work 365 days a year for 12, maybe 13, or work for 14 days with some teams. So, you have to go into every game with the same mindset that you want to give it your all and we talk about putting your ID on film.”

» (On Ole Miss’s defense)

“They mix things up a little bit. They have a really good front four and are talented all around so we’ve got a challenge ahead of us. They’re a big, physical team. They’ve got experience and not too many young guys, especially in the secondary. So we’re going to have to bring our “A” game and we’re working to do that right now.”

FRESHMAN DEFENSIVE BACK EMMANUEL MOSELEY

»(On the defensive improvement)

“We’re getting better because we’re pushing each other in practice. Coach Jones is on us, telling us that we’ve got to keep improving, so that’s what we want to do. And, we don’t want to let our leaders down, our seniors, so we just keep going.”

»(On the freshman helping each other out)

“It helps a lot. We’ve got a lot of people going through the same thing, we just continue to push each other in practice, and when we get on the field, it shows. We’re doing a tremendous job out there.”