Tennessee vs Chattanooga highlights and Jones’ presser

BUTCH JONES PRESS CONFERENCE

(Opening Statement)
I thought we did what we needed to do to win the football game tonight. We got back to playing Tennessee football in terms of one penalty. We had some individuals step up and impact the game: Aaron Medley’s seven touchbacks; anytime you can do that helps in the field positions game. Justin (Worley) was responsible for five touchdowns. Johnathon Johnson continues to step up and (his) consistency and performance by that young man in practice and in game, (and) you always know what you’re going to get with him. Derrell Scott and Justus Pickett gave us some valuable reps today. We had two big returns tonight by Cam Sutton and Evan Berry, which are momentum plays so that’s always great to see. We had some young players get some reps, so we were able to get them in the game and they were able to put their personal identity and personal brand on video. It will give us great evaluation moving forward with this football team as we continue to develop depth across the board. I also thought Jason Croom stepped up tonight and had some big catches at critical times in the game.

(On why he thought Justin ran more this week)
Because he’s heard Jimmy Hyams all week talking about it. It was there and he took it. I thought Justin was more aggressive in his mindset, in his thinking, in the way he played the game. He played confident, which is what we’re going to continue to need as we move forward.

(On what was there that he hadn’t seen before)
Just the end collapsing on the zone. We don’t need a home run from the quarterback position; we just need four yards. That’s part of managing the game and again he was more aggressive in his thought process.

(On if Jones asked Worley to be more aggressive)
I coached him the exact same way. We talk about being assertive in every single way. We always stress it, but it wasn’t any more than normal.

(On whether he was being careful with Jalen Hurd’s shoulder by limiting his playing time)
(We were) being protective, (but) our training room will be working overtime tonight. That’s the thing about this football team: anytime we win, it’s very, very special. Half the teams in the country lose, half the teams win, so when we win, it’s a great win, but these kids are so dedicated that they are going over right now to the Anderson Training Center for treatments and that’s a big part of it. We’re going into a tough stretch here.

(On any injury statuses)
The only thing I’ve heard now is that Devrin Young has a couple of broken ribs. I’ll have to get clarification on that, but I’ll just have to wait and see on the other individuals. I’ll go back over to the training center and wait for them and meet with (athletic trainer) Jason (McVeigh) on Sunday like I always do.

(On why Jonathon Johnson got the start over Pig Howard)
Just like Emmanuel Moseley earned the start over Mike Williams, you have to earn your spot with a week of preparation and not to say that Alton or Mike had a poor week of practice, but it’s about the competitive greatness that we’ve been talking about.

(On Evan Berry’s second half kickoff return)
He did a great job and now he’s got to find out how to finish. Evan’s got a great element of speed with great confidence and our players believe in him. You start the second half with a big splash play, a big momentum play and we did a great job of turning it into seven points and that’s always big to set the temperament, to set the tone in the second half.

(On the importance of scoring right before halftime)
Justin did a great job of managing the one-minute drill and everything in football is momentum and confidence. We executed the plays that we needed to. Jonathon Johnson ran a great route, Justin throwing off his left and put the ball where it needed to be.

(On the defensive performance)
I wasn’t particularly pleased with the individuals that were getting repetitions at the end of the game. I said to Curt (Maggitt) and A.J. (Johnson) that the standard and expectation doesn’t change no matter who’s on the field. That’s why I huddled them up after that one series. We knew we were going to be challenged with the quarterback runs. Chattanooga is a well-coached football team and they’ll continue to win their fair share of games. I have a lot of respect for David Blackburn and their entire administration and football team. The style of play, the standard and the expectations will never change, no matter who’s on the field and they need to know that.

(On the sacks given up by the offense)
We’ll break them down. A couple of the sacks weren’t from the offensive line, but from a back in protection. Your eyes want to point towards the offensive line, but sometimes we hang on to the ball too much and we have to put it away, but we’ll continue to break it down and you just have to keep working on it. Sometimes we overset on the pass rush and allow the guy on the inside to penetrate. We have to trust our technique, so some of it was technique, some of it was getting beat one-on-one and some of it was a different player, so all you can do is get back to work.

(On Marquez North’s status)
He was sore and we wanted to try to get him ready for next week.

(On Jones’ evaluation at the halfway point)
We need much, much more depth. A lot of that will be addressed in recruiting. Some of our young players who don’t play as much need to continue to work and progress throughout the season, but depth becomes a big issue. You look at the running back position. That’s a depth of concern. We all know depth in the offensive line, depth in the tight end, depth across the board. We just have to focus on the task ahead of it and grind every single day. That’s all you can do. We’re really getting phenomenal leadership right now and our players haven’t blinked. We’re 3-3 midway and have been in some very close games. It’s going to be a mental grind coming up in just staying focused on the process and not letting any outside distractions or clutter kick in and just focus on winning every single moment, every single day. The goal of this team has not changed since August: our goal is to be the best possible football team we can possibly be, no more, no less and we’ll continue to work to that.

(On thoughts on team now compared to August)
“Well, I’ve always felt good about our team. I like our character. I like our competitive character. They let our coaches push them, and they’re becoming an inner drive. They are starting to speak the same language. The leaders are really asserting themselves. I’ve always liked [them]. It’s just a challenge when you don’t have a lot of depth and when you don’t have a lot of live game experience. I find out a little bit more about this football team every single week just because they are gaining valuable game repetitions. Like I told the football team last night, I still don’t know how to read them. On every football team I’ve had the privilege of being the head coach for, I could tell exactly when they’re locked in–all that. I ask the coaches, `What are your thoughts?’, and they said you just have–you have older players, you have players that have never played before. You have such a different mix, and you’re so youthful. They’re learning as we continue to go. But, the more and more the season plays out, the more and more I find out more about this football team. I told them this game was going to be a test of their competitive character. Come out and put your best performance forward and play complimentary football. We’ll go back, and we’ll revisit the video. Again, I liked our business-like approach all week.”

(On whether or not tonight’s game was a good sample size for non-starters)
“Any type of sample size is big for us. Now, we have some live-game repetitions. We made some mental errors, and, like I told Jakob Johnson, `You earned valuable experience today, and you’re one snap away.’ Now, it’s what you do with those game repetitions. How do you improve? You can’t make the same mistake twice. They’re very prideful. They take great pride in their performance. But, again, it’s these individuals knowing to stay tuned in. Look at Emmanuel Moseley. Emmanuel Moseley didn’t play very much as all until last week. All of the sudden in the middle of the game against Florida, he’s pressed into a critical situation, and he performed well. So, this week he earned the start by his performance in practice and doing the right things. Again, you look at all that. That’s a great illustration. Now, what do these individuals–what does Dewayne Hendrix do with those repetitions? What does Jakob Johnson do with those repetitions? What does Justin King do with those repetitions? Dimarya Mixon, I could go on and on and on. Now, what do you do with those repetitions because, as you know, we’re only halfway through, and we’re a mass unit right now. We have to continue to develop depth in our football program.”

(On how close Jacob Gilliam is to his return)
“Close. He keeps getting closer. We just don’t ever want to put an individual in a game right now. I know he’s probably hurt because I know he’d like to play. That is his competitive nature, and I love him for it. Again, we’re always going to err on player welfare and development. We just didn’t think, coming back from [the injury], that he was game ready yet.”

(On what to take away from the running back performances)
“Work in progress. We still don’t have very many explosive runs. We need more explosive runs. Again, it’s hard to play perfect. Just (improve) the overall level of consistency when we run the football and our run efficiency.”

(On whether or not Marlin Lane could have played)
“No. He tried to go. He’s practiced all week, but he was pained up. I’ve never been in a game like that where you’re down three running backs like that. That’s why you need running backs. Football is a game of depth, and that was never illustrated more so than tonight.”

(On Johnathon Johnson’s consistency)
“Johnathon has displayed that consistency week-in and week-out starting last year. Doesn’t say two words, hangs on every word the coaches tell him, gives great effort and is just consistent. You just have to tell him one time, and he’s able to do that. It’s great also–we were talking about putting your identity and personal brand on video. It’s great to get Vic Wharton some reps. He had a number of catches. Again, things that we can teach off of and things that these players can go back. It’s one thing to learn off of other people, but now, they’re able to go back and learn off themselves. That’s an invaluable teaching tool.”

(On allowing the offensive line to play more reps than other positions before putting in second unit)
“Those five need every repetition of working together. The communicative aspect, the pad level, the use of the hands, fundamentals–they need every rep they can get. It was great to get those other individuals in the game as well and evaluate them.”

(On how a win helps the team moving forward)
“Anytime you win is great. I had a coach tell me once, `When you win, the drinks are a little bit colder and the food is a little bit warmer.’ If you’d see those kids in the locker room–they put so much effort and sweat equity into this season, and they continue to be all in. I coach for the kids. Seeing the look on their faces and singing `Rocky Top,’ that’s special. Like Curt Maggitt said, we can’t forget how this feeling feels. Anytime you win, it’s special. But, as hard as these kids have worked, to see the fruits of their labor so to speak come to fruition tonight is big. We’re going to be challenged as we continue to go, as you know. Every week from here on out is a grind.”

(On the importance of Evan Berry’s 68-yard return)
“It was big. Evan has been doing it in practice. He’s in my hip pocket every week. He wants the ball in his hands. Again, he’s done that in practice, but now to do it in a game, [the return] gives that unit great confidence.”

(On how long Devrin Young will be out)
“I do not. Again, I’ll get more clarification on the ribs, but that’s the preliminary right now.”