KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Four days out from the first SEC home game of 2023, No. 21/19 Tennessee football took Haslam Field Tuesday morning to continue preparations for Saturday night’s divisional matchup with South Carolina. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. inside a sold-out Neyland Stadium, and UT announced Monday night that the Vols will don their all-black “Dark Mode” uniforms for the contest.
After Tuesday’s practice, defensive line coach Rodney Garner and running backs coach Jerry Mack met with members of the media to preview the upcoming tilt with the Gamecocks. The team has been methodical in their approach to the SEC home opener, focusing on each practice and rep one at a time with the ultimate goal of going 1-0 on Saturday.
Through the first four weeks of the 2023 campaign, Tennessee leads the SEC with 39.0 tackles for loss and 16.0 sacks. Garner’s unit has contributed greatly to those numbers and will look to continue applying pressure against the Gamecocks under the lights of Neyland Stadium.
The South Carolina offense is engineered by quarterback Spencer Rattler, who ranks top-10 nationally in passing yards (1,242) and second in the SEC with a 74.2 completion percentage. In his comments to media on Tuesday, Garner spoke to the importance of his unit staying disciplined and keeping Rattler contained during the course of Saturday’s game.
“Well obviously, (Rattler) is able to extend plays with his legs, so that’s really stressful on the defense, especially the defensive line,” Garner said. “We have to make sure that we’re very disciplined in our rush lane integrity. Also, we have to make sure we can finish on top of the rush and make sure we can get him on the ground. He’s a very good player … We just have to make sure that we’re disciplined in everything that we do. We have to make sure that we try and restrict it and keep him in the pocket.”
Tennessee also leads the nation’s premier football conference and ranks eighth nationally in rushing offense, averaging 229.5 rushing yards per game. Coming off a career day against UTSA, sophomore Dylan Sampson leads the league with 7.37 yards per carry and five rushing scores, with Jaylen Wright ranks seconds in the SEC with 6.93 yards per rushing attempt.
Heading into an SEC matchup, the battle in the trenches will be key in deciding Saturday’s outcome. Mack expects a talented South Carolina front to present a challenge and has encouraged his RB group to attack that challenge head-on — to constantly pursue the seams opened up by the offensive line.
“There’s going to be tough, tight runs in those windows and those lanes are going to be smaller as we get into more SEC play,” Mack explained. “You know some of those other games, sometimes that grass that the offensive line is creating is extremely big because of the competition that you are playing. Man, in the SEC, it is not like that. Those seams become smaller and smaller and when they do open up, they close a lot faster just because of the people that we are playing with. We have to do a great job of seeing those, making decisive decisions and accelerating when we get that opportunity.”
Full transcript from Garner and Mack’s post-practice availabilities can be viewed below, along with select quotes from senior defensive end Tyler Baron, senior running back Jabari Small and sophomore wide receiver Squirrel White.
Tennessee Football Press Conference | Sept. 26, 2023
Defensive Line Coach Rodney Garner
On what makes South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler good on third downs…
“Well obviously he’s able to extend plays with his legs, so that’s really stressful on the defense, especially the defensive line. We have to make sure that we’re very disciplined in our rush lane integrity. Also, we have to make sure we can finish on top of the rush and make sure we can get him on the ground. He’s a very good player, you saw what he did last week against Mississippi State. What he did last year against us, we just have to make sure that we’re disciplined in everything that we do. We have to make sure that we try and restrict it and keep him in the pocket.”
On James Pearce Jr.’s biggest growth on and off the field…
“I just think maturity. I think James has grown in all areas, not just in football, but I just think in life period, which is parallel to it. He’s started to do things the Tennessee way and not so much James Pearce’s way. He’s starting to buy into what we’re telling him and what we’re teaching. Obviously, he’s always been a very talented young man. Just getting that talent to ball up and going in the right direction, that’s been the challenge, but I think now he sees himself having success with the coaching. Hopefully, he’s going to continue to either be more coachable and be more of a sponge and just try to take everything in and grow and continue to grow.”
On how he would rate the pass rush, specifically the inside pass rush and the importance of that against a QB like Spencer Rattler…
“Honestly, when we look at the film on Mondays, the biggest thing that we’re more focused on than anything is the production that we left on the field. When we’re going through that tape, just looking at if we did our proper assignment here, if we did these proper techniques, the footwork, the hands, the eyes, the rush lane integrity, this is a sack we could’ve had, this is a play we could’ve gotten, this is a TFL that we missed out just by bad footwork, turning our shoulders, getting watched. We’re constantly evaluating ourselves trying to get better. I think we’ve done some good things, but I really feel like there’s so much more room for improvement that we can do as a unit and that we have to keep growing in those areas.”
On the importance of getting a push inside…
“It’s important to get push everywhere. Obviously, in pass rush it all needs to tie together. You need to push up the middle, you need your guys off the edge making the quarterback try to step up, you got guys pushing so he can’t step up. All of it goes hand-in-hand. Everybody has a job, everybody needs to understand their job, they need to understand how it affects everyone, not just individually. I think that’s an area that we have grown a little bit in. I look at just specifically Tyler (Baron), just him understanding and know it isn’t just about him. It’s about Tennessee and about everybody doing their job and how it affects everyone. If everyone does their job, then everyone has an opportunity to be more effective.”
On what changed in the second half against Florida and if that carried over to the UTSA game…
“Obviously, you tip your hat to Florida. They did a great job. Obviously, I thought the first half we didn’t have the edge that we needed to have. Why? I don’t have the answer for that. I thought we had a great week of practice, but those guys came out and they were more fundamentally sound and more disciplined. They played with more of an edge. Like I told my guys, in this league there are no off days. I don’t care who you’re playing against. You have to bring your A-game every single day. We have to have that type of chip on our shoulder when we go in there and we can’t go in there and think we can start slow. We have to start fast, we have to finish fast, and we have to keep putting more gas on. It was a learning lesson. Obviously, you don’t want to have to learn like that. Hopefully, we will continue to get better, and I know the one thing about it, hopefully that is always in everybody’s mind, the feeling that you had when you walked off that grass and in that locker room, and that’s a feeling that you don’t want to have. So, you need to let that motivate you going forward so that we don’t have a repeat of that situation.”
On where Omari Thomas has impressed him most…
“I think Big O, like all the guys, I think he’s shown improvement. He has to continue to improve on his pad level. That is one of the things that he knows that that’s his Achilles heel. Just continuing to play lower. Obviously, he’s a great leader, he’s very passionate about it, he loves Tennessee, he loves his teammates. He does a great job, but there are some fundamental things that he has to continue to improve on. Just natural knee bend, initial explosion, hip rotation, things like that that’s going to help him chase his ultimate goal where he wants to be eventually.”
On Daevin Hobbs’ development…
“I think Hobbs is a great young talent. I think this kid, he has a very bright future. The thing that he’s impressed me with, for a kid not to be here in January and to have surgery and to be able to come in and play on the interior. In high school, he was an edge guy, stand-up guy, move around, basketball player and all that. We thought he had a really good skillset, but we thought initially that he was going to be more a defensive end. With our needs and everything that transpired, we needed more help at tackle. For him to embrace it and not fight it, to go in there and do it, it’s been very impressive. I’m looking forward to watching his development. He has a long way to go and once he improves and continues to get stronger, understand the fundamentals and what it takes to play in there, he’s got a chance, I think, to be an elite guy because of his skillset and what he brings to that position. That was the thing I told him. Richard Seymour is coming to the game this weekend with his son. I’m looking forward to my guys getting a chance to meet him, have a chance to talk to him. He reminds me a lot of Richard with his demeanor and his size and his athleticism. I’m looking forward to them having an opportunity to meet each other.”
On what stands out about the South Carolina offense…
“You have (Spencer) Rattler, their running back No. 5 (Dakereon Joyner) that they do everything with. He’s their wildcat guy. He played a lot last year against us in the wildcat position. He can do a lot of good things. Their wide receiver, No. 17 (Xavier Legette) is a dynamic player. They have good football players like everybody in the conference. We have to do a very good job at defending them. We have to play sound Tennessee football, and everybody has to do their job.”
Running Backs Coach Jerry Mack
On how Dylan Sampson carried himself in the game and what he did on the field…
“Well first of all, I think the way that he ran the ball was extremely well. We talk a lot of times about teach tape and the way he pressed the double teams, made a decision at the last second, a full speed decision and then you kind of saw a lot of natural ability and kind of expose itself in the open field. Breaking tackles, being able to use his all-form to try to stiff arm guys and stuff like that to get away from bodies. So just the amount of work that he has put in, to work on his craft to make sure that he understands the game plan and to make sure he understands where those free hitters are down in and down out. As far as coming into this last week where he didn’t get a chance to play very much if at all the previous week, just the way he handled himself in the building. You know, you see a lot of young guys that kind of have an attitude and they’re different when they come in the building at times, especially when things don’t go their way. But Sampson didn’t do that, you know he worked the same. Matter of fact, he probably worked even a little harder to show us that he deserved a role in every game plan. I think the more you see him on the field, I think he’s constantly getting better every time he touches the field.”
On anything that Dylan Sampson needs to improve on…
“Looking back, they all can improve on certain things. I mean nobody’s perfect. We all have some deficiencies that we are constantly trying to get better at. But just from the standpoint of how we kind of rotate the guys a little bit, right now depending on the game plan, it kind of just depends on what the game plan kind of dictates is who we put in first. The last few weeks you could see J-Wright (Jaylen Wright) runs out there first, last week Jabari (Small) ended up with more snaps than J-Wright. The previous week, J-Wright ended up with more snaps than Jabari. As far as how Sampson fits in that entire role, it just depends on what kind of package. I think there’s always going to be a package or a set of situations that we want Sampson in the game just because his skillset is a little bit different. All three of them have skill sets a little bit different from one another but I think going forward you are going to see quite a bit of Dylan Sampson for sure.”
On what makes Jaylen Wright so effective and where he will find success against South Carolina…
“Well, the way J-Wright runs the ball from a violent standpoint. Like an extremely physical guy that can break tackles. When you look at his yards after contact, they’re really good right now. He moves the pile, like we like to say, forward. He’s a guy that runs physical. He runs with better pad level than he has had the past two years and I think that is what allows him to have success. As far as where he fits in against South Carolina, I mean just do the little things at a high level. That’s really all it’s all about. He doesn’t have to do anything special outside of the framework of what he normally does, just do all those little things that we talk about. Ball security is what he’s gotten really good at. Pressing the double teams, being able to read the blocks and protection to make sure that his eyes are disciplined to the right place. If he does all those little things at a high level, he’ll have success against everybody that we play.”
On looking at what the offense needs overall when choosing a running back…
“I think that’s where it all starts. Like you take a couple weeks ago against Florida, we didn’t get as many snaps as we would like during the game. We found ourselves in a position where we had to play catchup some from a standpoint of maybe throwing the ball a little more, pass protection, honestly J-Wright and Jabari are a little bit bigger than Dylan Sampson so those were the decisions where we felt like you have to get a little bit of a more stout guy. But then as the Florida game goes, if it’s going back and forth it’s always going to be a situation where you need that certain burst or that pop that Sampson gives you in the game. Obviously, he can catch the ball on the perimeter extremely well, and he’s what we call a space guy. When he gets the ball in a space, it’s hard to tackle him. He can make defenders miss, he has a really good feel of body and spatial awareness around him.”
On rating the overall pass protection of the running backs in the past games this season…
“I do think that they’re probably rated a B-plus right now. From a standpoint of I like where their eyes are in the protection. I like that they are always where they are supposed to be. I do want to see more physicality at the point of attack, making sure there’s nobody at all around Joe (Milton) or whatever quarterback is in the game. So, the physicality standpoint has to continue to improve. But, as far as pad level and where their eyes are starting, they rarely if at all the last four games, were really out of position. It’s just about making sure they are more physical at the attack.”
On South Carolina’s defense…
“The front seven is really good. Really impressed with the linebacker position. Those guys fly around, they are really aggressive, physical, you can see the improvement that they had in their group from year-to-year over the last few years that we have been playing. I think at my position specifically, we just have to do a really good job and continue to run with physicality in between the tackles. There’s going to be tough, tight runs in those windows and those lanes are going to be smaller as we get into more SEC play. You know some of those other games, sometimes that grass that the offensive line is creating is extremely big because of the competition that you are playing. Man, in the SEC, it is not like that. Those seams become smaller and smaller and when they do open up, they close a lot faster just because of the people that we are playing with. We have to do a great job of seeing those, making decisive decisions and accelerating when we get that opportunity.”
On if there is a specific running back that’s skillset is fit best for this weekend’s game…
“It’s interesting that you asked that question. We just had a conversation about that in the meeting room the other day about how all three of those guys’ skill set is distinctively different and they have nothing but ultimate trust from our coaching staff. I think all of them, I never know who’s going to have the big game. It’s been Jaylen, obviously it’s been Jabari over the years as well, now you see Sampson emerging. All three of those guys present a different skillset and it’s really just about the flow of the game. It would be an opportunity for Jabari or Sampson, or whoever to go out there and catch something on the perimeter or break a tackle in the backfield and next thing you know it’s 60, 70 yards because they all have dynamite quickness and speed as well. I really don’t ever know who’s going to get that opportunity. I can tell you this, we trust them 100 percent, whoever goes into the game.”
On how the room’s comradery affects how they will play…
“Man, we are blessed to have a group of young men and a group of kids that really understand that. In the past we have not had that opportunity to say, ‘hey look, these guys are going to distribute these carries around the room because we haven’t felt comfortable putting all those different people in the game at that certain time.’ And now, what you see is over the course of years, Jaylen has had some injuries over the years, Jabari has had some injuries over the years, so now you had the addition of Dylan Sampson and his role is increasing. I think they welcome that opportunity to understand that, hey, as a team to get where we’re really trying to go to accomplish our goals, we have to be here for one another. The selflessness that they have, that’s really extreme. That’s different than what is across the country right now. You don’t really see that now. There may be a time though this coming year that one of those guys may have to have 25 carries a game. It just depends on what the game kind of dictates. Right now, we haven’t had that luxury, but you do see guys getting 20-plus touches, whether we throw the ball to them on the perimeter or whether we do some different things with them in the backfield.”
On Joe Milton’s big run on the first play against UTSA…
“That’s huge. The ability to have a running quarterback or a true dual threat quarterback, especially one that can cross the goal line with speed like Joe did on the long run. I mean, that presents some problems all the time, whether it’s more opportunities for the running backs because those defensive ends or those linebackers in their read keys, they understand that the quarterback is a valuable threat. It changes the box, it changes what it looks like on the roof as well from the safety position. So, there’s a lot of things that having a dual style quarterback can open up for us. It creates more touches for us, they are welcomed to that.”
Senior DL Tyler Baron
On what made the defense so effective last Saturday vs. UTSA…
“It’s a simple answer. The entire defensive line, we do a really good job as a unit working together and having great chemistry. Really, I just give a shout out to the rest of the defensive line room. Everybody is doing a great job. We just have to keep working.”
On the defensive line not having an edge in the first half against Florida…
“As you see, we definitely came out with more of an edge that second half. Yeah, I think that is something that we are carrying over right now. Going into practice this week, we are just trying to approach every week with the right mindset, regardless of who it is. Focusing on ourselves more so.”
On if there is anything constructive he took away from the loss against South Carolina last season that can prepare them for Spencer Rattler this week…
“Yeah, he is a really effective guy. He does a good job of getting out of the pocket and finding his guys down the field. Just going back and watching the film from last year and just seeing what we could have done better, what we did do good, and then taking those things and trying to build off of it.”
Senior RB Jabari Small
On the mentality in the running back room…
“We need each other. It’s a long season, there’s a lot of football left. We’re team oriented. It’s a team-first game. I’m not out there thinking about myself. I’m thinking about the win. That’s across the board throughout the whole team. Our plan is to get the dub, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
On if he thought back to last year’s game vs. South Carolina…
“No sir. I’m not even thinking about last week, just Wednesday practice and the task at hand.”
On if he is proud that Tennessee leads the SEC in rushing…
“For sure, that just goes back to taking advantage of our opportunities. We have a lot of backs that can go. That’s a true testament to the o-line as well. I don’t think they get enough credit. The o-line is doing a great job. The quarterback’s play calling, and the coaching staff’s play calling. It’s a team effort. That’s something that we want and that we’re trying to take advantage of.”
Sophomore WR Squirrel White
On if there was anything in particular that allowed the offense to get out to a faster start against UTSA…
“I just feel like being back in Neyland allowed us to get our momentum going on offense. Nothing has changed for us.”
On what the wide receiver room needs to do to take the next step going into a tough SEC slate…
“Right now, we are making plays down the field like you saw last week. We just have to continue building on that and working on our craft each and every day in every practice.”
On if last year’s game against South Carolina is still on the teams’ mind…
“To be honest, this is a new season. Next game, next opponent. We try not to really think about it. Obviously, it happened, but this is the next game.”