UT Sports Information
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following a complete team win over South Carolina, the Tennessee Football team and “player’s coach” Jeremy Pruitt spent Tuesday in shells on Haslam Field preparing for a homecoming matchup with UAB.
“Coach Pruitt, he’s a player’s coach,” said freshman linebacker Henry To’o To’o. “He loves his players and he’ll do anything for his players. That’s kind of coach who you want to play for. Coach Pruitt is a real genuine dude and he’ll do anything for you.”
To’o To’o collected eight tackles against South Carolina to match his career best in a defensive effort that held the Gamecocks to just 21 points and a scoreless second half.
With Pruitt and his team’s sights set on Saturday night, the Vols will look again towards the Tennessee fanbase that has electrified Neyland Stadium this fall.
“Coach Pruitt, it’s obvious that he has our backs,” senior linebacker Daniel Bituli said. “You can see how fired up he is and that’s him each and every time. It also helps us out that we have the best fanbase in the world. When they get us loud and get us all pumped up, it gets us ready to go out there and just perform on the field.”
The Blazers come to Knoxville equipped with the fifth best defense in the country, holding opponents to 248.6 yards of total offense per game.
“Man, we’ve just been coming to work,” junior running back Ty Chandler said. “Just going to work every week, and that’s the thing we’ve got to do—continue to do. We’ve got another good opponent coming ahead, UAB. So, we’ve got to work just as hard as we did last week to get ready for them.”
Bituli and The Defense Lead the Charge
When Tennessee welcomes UAB for the fifth time to Neyland Stadium, the Vols will look to contain their third-straight opponent that averages over 400 yards of total offense.
Bituli will look to build off of a career day in his final Homecoming at Neyland Stadium. Against the Gamecocks, the senior paced the defense with 15 total tackles, a tackle for loss, and scored the Vols’ final points of the game after blocking a punt and retuning it for a touchdown. He earned SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors and was named to Pro Football Focus’ SEC and National Defensive Team of the Week.
“It honestly only happened because of my D-line,” Bituli said. “They did a good job of holding the O-linemen up, so they couldn’t climb up to the secondary and block us. We just talked about the plays we were going to get this week. We knew they were big on the moon plays and running the dark plays. All that was based on the tight end location. They just did a good job of stepping up with the O-linemen so they couldn’t come up to us and we could make plays.”
Vols Look for Continued Success Offensively
The Vols’ offense has been on an upward trend on the back half of the 2019 slate. Leading the charge against South Carolina were offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy and Jauan Jennings, who both earned SEC Player of the Week honors.
“To think about the things that I’ve been through, it’s always great to have an honor like that,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy and the offensive line did not allow a sack for the second time this season, laying the foundation for the offense to set a season-high 485 yards of total offense.
Jennings grabbed the SEC Offensive Player of the Week honor after finishing with 192 yards of total offense as he lined up at quarterback to start in the game in the wildcat and played most of his snaps at receiver.
“It meant a lot,” Jennings said. “First and foremost, it’s a blessing. Secondly, it’s just an honor and I’m grateful that I could receive that honor.”
The senior finished with a career-high 174 yards against USC on seven catches while tying his career high in catches (7) and touchdowns (2). Jennings along with fellow senior receiver Marquez Callaway combined for 276 yards in the air and three touchdowns. It marked the second time this season the duo each recorded 100-plus yards in a game. Callaway also scored on a 65-yard punt return in the second quarter.
Tennessee Football Player Transcript
Brandon Kennedy, R-Sr. OL
On what made the biggest difference in offensive line play the last two weeks:
“I think, like Coach Pruitt says, it’s really the details and being able to execute under pressure, and that’s the thing that’s helped us most.”
On what it felt like to find out he was SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week:
“Yeah, it was pretty cool to hear that, but it wouldn’t be possible without the guys around me and the success that they’ve had.”
On the change in team atmosphere after two SEC wins and a hard-fought game at Alabama
“I mean we’ve been pretty even-keeled the whole season, and it’s obviously fun to have wins, so we’re just trying to change the culture and create a winning atmosphere around here.”
Ty Chandler, Jr. RB
On how the team has achieved the results of the last few weeks:
“Man, we’ve just been coming to work. Just going to work every week, and that’s the thing we’ve got to do—continue to do. We’ve got another good opponent coming ahead, UAB. So, we’ve got to work just as hard as we did last week to get ready for them.”
On the challenge of facing a good non-conference opponent in UAB:
“We’ve got to stay focused no doubt. UAB’s coming in and they’re going to be trying to get a big win. They’ve got a good defense, so that’s something we’ve got to be ready for. We’ve got to prepare just like it’s an SEC opponent.”
On if he can see Jim Chaney’s plan unfold through watching film:
“Oh yeah, he’s a mastermind. Everybody’s starting to grab the whole concept of the offense and parts, why we’re doing this and why we’re doing that. So, everybody is starting to grab that, and I feel like it’s all coming together and we’ve got to keep going.”
Jauan Jennings, R-Sr. WR
On what it meant to him to earn Co-Offensive Player of the Week in the SEC:
“It meant a lot. First and foremost, it’s a blessing. Secondly, it’s just an honor and I’m grateful that I could receive that honor.”
On what he has fallen in love with the most about the University of Tennessee:
“From my standpoint, I always loved Tennessee. Like I said, I’m from Tennessee, and my family was Tennessee fans growing up. Tennessee has always been instilled in the person I am today, and I kind of take that with me when I go out and play football on the field. So, it just means everything to me, and hopefully one day we’ll see Tennessee on top.”
On becoming a leader of the team and if past players may have influenced him:
“Yeah definitely. We had some players that I kind of just watched as I was here. You had [Josh] Dobbs, [Alvin] Kamara, Curt Maggitt, you had Jalen Reeves-Maybin, you had Derek Barnett. You had a bunch of guys that you could definitely take some tools and learn from. That’s definitely helped me and shaped me into the player that I am.”
Daniel Bituli, Sr. LB
On his 15-tackle performance in Saturday’s win:
“It honestly only happened because of my D-line. They did a god job of holding the O-linemen up, so they couldn’t climb up to the secondary and block us. We just talked about the plays we were going to get this week. We knew they were big on the moon plays and running the dark plays. All that was based on the tight end location. They just did a good job of stepping up with the O-linemen so they couldn’t come up to us and we could make plays.”
On when the defensive unit realized their potential:
“Just looking back at every game and just realizing that we’re honestly beating ourselves. Every score, every touchdown that the opposing teams have scored has been because we messed up. We just know that if we’re on our ‘A’ game and executing the proper way, then we can stop these teams from making these plays.”
On how the confidence level of the team has increased throughout the season:
“It’s very big. This confidence level, it only gets bigger after games like that, just seeing how well we can really be. We still haven’t played our best football yet and it’s really good knowing that going into this week – knowing we’re going against a really good team and just being able to prove to ourselves how good of a team we can be each and every week.”
On how the team feeds off the energy that Coach Pruitt gives on the sideline:
“We love it. Coach Pruitt, it’s obvious that he has our backs. You can see how fired up he is and that’s him each and every time. It also helps us out that we have the best fanbase in the world. When they get us loud and get us all pumped up, it gets us ready to go out there and just perform on the field.”
Matthew Butler, Jr. DL
On how he feels that he’s improves as a pass rusher this season:
“I feel like I’ve improved some. I have a ways to go. I have high goals for myself. I have high goals for this team. I just want to contribute to us winning.”
On how the team was able to withstand the losses of a few key defensive linemen:
“We have a lot of good players on the team. Kivon Bennett really stepped up. I’d even say he’s our most versatile, as far as using a lot of moves pass rusher, so he stepped up and he got a lot of pressure on (Ryan) Hilinski.”
On if he’s seen improvement from Kivon Bennett, as a pass rusher:
“Yes, for sure. He has more moves than anybody I can tell you that and he’s been working on executing. He was able to do that and really get some pressure. Another guy is Deandre (Johnson). He’s been improving a lot as a pass rusher and he had a sack this past weekend. DT’s (Darrell Taylor) always been there. As a front three or four, we’ve been able to make some moves, run some good games, and get some pressure on the quarterback.”
Henry To’o To’o, Fr. LB
On when the turning point of the season was:
“I can’t tell you the exact turning point, but we have our meetings, we have player meetings in the locker room. We kind of just sit down and talk about what we want of the season. As a freshmen group, we want to play for our seniors and that they leave here as VFLs.”
On why the results have been better the past few weeks:
“We’re coming together. We’re bonding as a family. That’s one huge thing. You go on the field and you go out and play for your brother right next to you. You go out and do whatever you can for him.”
On if he felt that he would need to be vocal as a freshman this season:
“Yes, I try to come in and do what I can do. I don’t want to step on anybody’s toes, but I want to be that leader that can help the older guys when they’re down. I know that being a leader is hard. Not everybody can do it, so having those guys do that to you really helps a lot.”
On how the players are motivated by Coach Pruitt taking up for his players during games:
“Coach Pruitt, he’s a player’s coach. He loves his players and he’ll do anything for his players. That’s kind of who you want to play for. Coach Pruitt is a real genuine dude and he’ll do anything for you. When you guys see him yelling and all this, it’s the usual for us. He does that for us on a daily basis.”