Vol Report: On To Georgia

Tennessee travels to face Georgia on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS

Sept. 26, 2016

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee head coach Butch Jones and three members of Team 120 ushered in Georgia Week on Monday with an afternoon media session at the Ray & Lucy Hand Digital Studio. Linebackers Colton Jumper and Cortez McDowell, as well as offensive lineman Dylan Wiesman, followed Jones at the podium.

Ranked 11th in the latest AP Top 25, Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) takes its unbeaten record on the road for the first time in 2016 when it travels to face No. 25 Georgia (3-1, 1-1 SEC) in Athens. Kickoff from Sanford Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaFoce calling the action.

The Bulldogs suffered their first defeat of the season last week, dropping a 45-14 decision at Ole Miss. UGA had opened the season — its first under head coach Kirby Smart — with three consecutive victories, earning wins over then-No. 22 North Carolina, Nicholls State and Missouri. Georgia has put together a second-half comeback in all three of its wins.

UT is 4-0 for the first time since 2003 after a remarkable second-half comeback lifted the Vols past Florida, 38-28, last Saturday. Trailing 21-0 in the first half, Tennessee scored 38 unanswered points to snap an 11-game losing streak to the Gators and secure its first 1-0 start to SEC play since 2004. Quarterback Joshua Dobbs finished the game with 399 total yards (319 passing, 80 rushing) and five total touchdowns.

Jones, along with Jumper, Wiesman and McDowell, shared their thoughts on Tennessee’s dramatic victory last week and on the challenge that awaits them in Athens on Saturday.

Butch Jones | Head Coach | 4th Season

“Going back on last week’s game, I was very proud of the way our kids competed. I thought they competed even in the first half. I thought we competed for 60 minutes. We had some individuals really step up and play winning football for us. If you look at the defense and the absence of Darrin Kirkland Jr., Cam Sutton and really Jalen Reeves-Maybin, we had some individuals really step up in the absence of three all-conference football players. I thought Colton Jumperplayed his best game to date. I really liked the way he got us lined up and made some critical plays on the running backs and down the field in pass coverage.

“As we know, it was a tale of two halves. There are a lot of things where we have to improve. We have a great test this weekend in our first true road game in a hostile environment against a really good and physical football team. Again with explosive plays, we had three snaps that accounted for 130 yards of Florida’s total offense. Big pass plays are momentum-killers. We have to do a better job of winning at the line of scrimmage, finding the ball in the blind spot and winning our one-on-one matchups.

“When you look at the tale of two halves, we scored 28 points in 4 minutes and 13 seconds. Defensively, eight of Florida’s nine drives [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][in the second half] ended on a three-and-out. We knew this would be a field position game. We were able to down the football five times inside the 20-yard line. Offensively, we only had two negative yardage plays, which for us is very important. The thing we have to do a much better job on is red zone efficiency. The previous week, we were very good. This week, we were very poor. You’re not going to win a lot of football games with our performance in the red zone. A lot of their touchdowns came on third down. There is one four-point play in football. It’s third down in the red zone. We weren’t able to do that. That means the difference between winning and losing on offense and defense. We have to do a much better job with that.

“As we know, it’s a week-to-week season. The more you win, the more that is at stake. Again, we are playing a fine football team. They are well-coached, disciplined and physical. It will be our first road test of the year. It all begins with preparation today and throughout the course of the week.”

Colton Jumper | Linebacker | Junior | Lookout Mountain, Tenn.

The team’s injuries at linebacker have forced Cortez McDowell and Colton Jumper into prominent positions on the team. Jumper started his fifth career game against Florida while McDowell played a prominent role off the bench for the fourth straight game. Jumper recorded 15 tackles, one TFL and one pass breakup in the two games since taking over as the starting middle linebacker. He has been able to use his experience and smarts to get the team correctly lined up, despite the deafening noise from the Tennessee faithful.

“When we are at home the noise plays a big part in lining people up. That is what you want because the offense can’t hear very well either, but making those calls is pretty hard out there. With Dylan (Bates), Cortez (McDowell) and Gavin (Bryant) I have complete trust in them and they know what their job is. So really it isn’t communicating with them it is getting the calls to the d-line and the secondary, but really everyone does a good job of being prepared.”

Dylan Wiesman | Offensive Lineman | Senior | Cincinnati, Ohio

The microscope was placed on Tennessee’s offensive line last week as the Vols prepared to face Florida’s stout defense and fearsome pass rush. With Dylan Wiesman making his second consecutive start at center and sophomore Chance Hall returning to the lineup, the Volunteer O-line helped pave the way for a season-best 498 yards of total offense against a Gator defense that entered the weekend ranked first in the FBS in total defense. On Monday, Wiesman discussed the progress made by the O-line in the victory.

“I think that we played our best game as a unit Saturday. Every week you can see us progressing and us getting better and better. Still, there’s a lot of things we have to work on. We have to keep (Joshua) Dobbs clean. Personally, I have to have my snaps better. I had five snaps that weren’t up to the standard so I have to get that corrected. As an offensive line, I think you can have five guys that are solid and play of you can have six or seven guys that can rotate in. It just depends on how well they communicate. How well you know that other guy. You know, because playing offensive line, you have to know what the other guys think, you have to be on the same wave length as them, and it all just depends on how well you guys communicate as a unit.”

Cortez McDowell | Linebacker | Junior | Locust Grove, Ga.

Tennessee’s defense has been hit hard with injuries the past couple weeks and the team was missing senior defensive back Cameron Sutton and sophomore linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. Senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin played against Florida, but was limited due to an injury he picked up against Ohio. With both starting linebackers limited or out, Cortez McDowell and Colton Jumper stepped into prominent positions against Florida. The team forced Florida into five 3-and-outs and picked off Austin Appleby in the second half, only allowing the Gators to accumulate eight yards of offense in the third quarter.

“It was challenging, not having [Sutton, Kirkland, Reeves-Maybin] but we have a defense that’s an older group, a wiser group. We have guys with tremendous amount of confidence in their leadership skills. We have guys like Barnett down in the D-line, guys in the back end like Todd Kelly Jr. and Micah Abernathy. Having those three guys, as well as the other eight guys on the field, we all have tremendous confidence in our defense. It all goes through the preparation. So, throughout the week of preparation and then having a lot of other key captains and guys in leadership roles on the field, it made the game a lot easier.”

More Sound Bites

Linebacker Colton Jumper
(On his continued progress and increased playing time)

“I think getting in and getting game reps has been the key for me. It has helped build my confidence up on the defense. Meeting with Coach Shoop has helped me a lot and knowing what they are going to do before they do it has helped.”

Offensive lineman Dylan Wiesman
(On the chemistry along the offensive line)

“Like you said, the chemistry just comes from off the field. All of us, the whole offensive line hang out a lot. We hang out a lot at football, we’re obviously here a lot, but we spend a lot more time off the field together. That’s where the chemistry comes from. That’s where you get to know a guy, to know what he’s thinking. Especially in adverse situations like you see in a game. And then the toughness, I guess it’s just the way we play football. The way we were brought up and being around other guys who have that same mentality as you, its just contagious. It makes you want to play even harder because when you see a guy on film who’s taking a guy off the screen route out of bounds, it makes me want to do that. I have to do that, that’s a standard we have to get to. We all have to do that.”

Linebacker Cortez McDowell
(On having confidence in Colton Jumper)

“Well Jumper’s been here with us this whole time, he’s been in our program, he knows what it takes to be a true competitor through preparation, through film, through all of that, so we knew what Jumper could do. We knew what he could bring to the table as a MIKE linebacker and also as the captain of the defense, so we had a tremendous amount of confidence in him. He showed it this past week, and he also showed it the week before. We all know that we have confidence in him and we’re going to continue to ride him, ride his coattail, and he’s going to continue to be a great MIKE linebacker here.”