#VolReport: Bowling Green Prep

Tennessee opened its first game week of 2015 with an extended media session Monday at the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio.

Aug. 31, 2015

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Football Program and Head Coach Butch Jones held their first game week press conference of the 2015 season on Monday, signally the official transition into a new year as Team 119 on Rocky Top.

With all of the anticipation that comes with the start of a new season for the Vols, the even bigger task at hand is maintaining consistency and development despite heightened emotions. Fundamentals, quality reps and strong mental efforts will be reinforced this week, as UT prepares to take on Bowling Green at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.

“As we all know, [the] first game is the game of unknowns, [we] expect the unexpected,” Jones said. “There’s so many things, when I talk about what constitutes the game of unknowns, not just from statistics in tendencies from your opponent, but from ourselves as well. It’s the first time that our team will truly take the field as Team 119. How do we respond to playing in a different environment, [and] all those things that are associated with that?

“This [week] will tell us a little bit more about the maturity, the growth, and the development of our leadership on this football team.”

Heading into their matchup against the Falcons, Tennessee also prepares to introduce another high number of freshmen to the playing field. Last season, the Vols played 23 true freshmen which marked the most in the country. This year, Coach Jones feels Team 119 could nearly match those numbers, putting another emphasis on the importance of leadership.

“In terms of freshmen, we could play upwards to the amount of about 22 true freshmen Saturday afternoon,” Jones said. “Arguably, this football team, Team 119, could be younger than Team 118. How are these individuals going to react when the spotlight goes on and you’re playing for real now, and there’s a score on the scoreboard and everything’s about winning the football game?

“When they get on the bus to go over to Nashville, everyone has a concrete job description, and being able to execute their assignment [is critical]. I know our players are looking forward to playing in Nissan Stadium and playing in Nashville.”

Kelly Tasked With Stepping In For McNeil

Brian Randolph has formed a formidable safety duo with LaDarrell McNeil over the years and was about to change his No. 37 to No. 33 in honor of McNeil, who will miss an extended period of time with a neck injury.

McNeil told him to keep wearing No. 37. Randolph describes seeing his friend go down with an injury as one of the hardest things he has had to deal with in his career.

“He’s a great guy on and off the field,” Randolph said. “It’s an extreme loss. He’s a very selfless player, that’s why you don’t hear a lot about him.”

The Vols will look to Todd Kelly Jr. to fill the void left by McNeil’s injury. Randolph said that Kelly is the best guy to step up in this situation, describing him as “a natural football player” and someone who has one of the top football IQs on the team.

“When we found out the news about LaDarrell, the first thing Todd came up to me and said was, ‘I’m not going to let you down,'” he said. “That just shows that he’s out there, he wants to play for his brothers left and right of him. He’s not out there for himself.”

LBs Confident in Jumper

Prior to the start of Monday’s media session, Tennessee released its first iteration of the Week One depth chart. Among other notable names and positions, many eyes were drawn to the name occupying the starting MIKE linebacker spot: sophomoreColton Jumper.

A walk-on from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, Jumper has emerged from a highly competitive linebacker positional battle that also featured the athleticism of freshman Darrin Kirkland Jr. and the experience of redshirt junior Kenny Bynum. While few expected to see his name on the first team sheet, fellow linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin says Jumper has earned it.

” I always knew he could play,” Reeves-Maybin said. “When he got here, he was right on cue as soon as he got here. He was keeping up with everybody; it didn’t take him too long to learn the defense. So as soon as he got here he was really in a position to play early.”

To hear his teammates tell it, Jumper–who appeared in just one game in 2014–has made strides through a quiet, but relentless work ethic. That mentality is the same one underscored by the linebacking unit as they seek to perfect the Power of the Position for 2015.

“He’s just a hard worker, never complains about anything. He just comes in and grinds,” added Reeves-Maybin. “Really the whole linebacker room is like that. Whether it was Jumper or Kirkland or Kenny whoever got the job it was going to be a hardworking guy who just came in everyday prepared. We just tried to keep that theme throughout the team of being “nine strong” and making sure that everyone is ready to step up when their name is called.”

SOUND BITES Sophomore DE Derek Barnett (On thoughts about the Tennessee offense) “They are really talented at the receiver position, running back as well. They have a bunch of good skill guys. I feel like the offensive line has been improving every day. We are all competing. Some days, they will have good days. Some days, we will have good days. I think, overall, we are just competing really well.” (On maintaining momentum from last season) “I just kept my routine going, what I do before practice and before games. I really maintained by body, staying in the weight room as well and not getting complacent.” Junior QB Joshua Dobbs (On feelings towards the first game) “Excitement. It’s great to be finally back in game week. I know we’ve come a long way. We’ve been waiting for this week for a while now, since the beginning of the year. So, we’re excited to get back at it and we’re excited to playSaturday.” (On his confidence in the offensive line) “I am 100 percent confident with whoever the five guys are. I know, as I’ve said many times before, the offensive line group is a group that’s really come together, just working, grinding together and pushing each other. I think it’s great. They’re all competing against each other and they’re pushing each other to be great, and then you have the older guys really bringing along the younger guys. There’s definitely a good dynamic in our [Offensive] Line room, and it really projects throughout the whole offense.” Junior DB Cameron Sutton (On his impressions of Bowling Green’s receivers) “I have looked at them a lot. The quarterback does a great job of spreading the ball out to those guys. Those guys make plays with the ball and they block for each other well on the perimeter in the screen game. They make guys miss in open space, so we’ve got to do a great job of our leverage and tackling in open space, and just continue to put a hat on those guys throughout the course of the game.” (On injuries in the secondary to Rashaan Gaulden andLaDarrell McNeil) “Those are two big critical losses for our defense overall in general, but we can’t really dwell on that. We give our condolences to those guys, we still treat those guys like they’re out there on the field with us each and every day. Those guys are still uplifting, still motivating, and still around the program. Not able to physically be out there on the fields with us, but they’re in our hearts, they’re in our spirits and our minds.” Junior LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (On Bowling Green’s high-tempo offense) “The big thing is their tempo. They go really fast and they’re one of the only teams in the country that go that fast. They have a veteran group of O-linemen, their quarterback has won for them and they have a solid group of skill players. We just have to come out and work on Tennessee and play our game, communicate well.” (On playing at Nissan Stadium) “I’m a big Titans fan so being able to play in that stadium is kind of like a dream come true, honestly. I haven’t been to a game there in a long time so it will definitely be fun just to get back into that stadium and feel that environment.” RS Senior DB Brian Randolph (On preparing the younger players for Game One) “I emphasize, and the coaches have been emphasizing on something we’ve got called snap-and-clear. That’s just the play before, whether it’s a good play or a bad play, we can’t dwell on it because next thing you know, they’ll be running another play. We’re working on that in practice. As soon as we make a play, we line up and look for the next call.” (On the talent of the D-Line) “We’ve got some monsters up front, that’s how I feel about it. They’re going to be eating, so that makes our job easier. They really don’t compare to any team I’ve played for. This is probably the highest level of talent I’ve ever seen on our D-Line.”