Oct. 3, 2016

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee head coach Butch Jones, along with wide receiver Josh Malone, offensive lineman Brett Kendrick, defensive lineman Kendal Vickers and SEC Special Teams Player of the Week Riley Lovingood, addressed the media on Monday in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio, discussing the Vols’ Hail Mary victory over Georgia as well as their upcoming road trip to visit the Texas A&M Aggies.

The No. 9-ranked Volunteers (5-0, 2-0 SEC), now 5-0 for the first time since the 1998 season, prepare for their second-consecutive road trip to face No. 8/7 Texas A&M. The Aggies enter the weekend contest undefeated and are 5-0 to start the season for the third straight year.

Kickoff from Kyle Field in College Station, Texas is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS with Verne Lundquist, Gary Danielson and Allie LaForce calling the game action.

Last week, the Aggies downed South Carolina for a 24-13 win in Columbia, S.C. This week’s game vs. Tennessee marks the school’s third AP Top 10 matchup at Kyle Field since the Aggies joined the SEC in 2013, as well as the first meeting between UT and Texas A&M since the 2005 Cotton Bowl (UT 38, TAMU 7).

After trailing 17-7 in the first half, Jauan Jennings caught a 43-yard touchdown heave from quarterback Joshua Dobbs as time expired to lift Tennessee to a 34-31 comeback victory over No. 25/20 Georgia on Saturday at Sanford Stadium for the Vols’ 11th-straight win. UT’s 11-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in FBS.

Butch Jones | Head Coach | 4th Season

“Good to see everyone. I hope everyone has kind of recovered from the weekend. When you go back and you look at the game, you always point out that the game could be decided by two to three plays, four to six plays. We always do a video called ‘The Difference’ and when you look back, I think there were a lot of critical plays at critical moments in the game, some early in the game and some late in the game. They really were the difference between winning and losing. I think they all accumulate. There were a number of big plays. A lot of them were centered around our special teams play.

“First of all, in the first half I thought the third-and-15 scramble by Josh Dobbs for a first down, right towards the end of the half and then Josh’s touchdown before halftime, proved to be one of the differences between winning and losing. Getting points on the board knowing that you’re getting the ball to start the second half [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”][was big]. We talked about going down and scoring and we were able to do that to start the second half with a touchdown drive. If you look later in the game, the fourth-and-2 stop with Shy Tuttle being able to tip the football, I thought that was big. I thought one of the best plays I’ve seen all year was by Riley Lovingood. There’s a long snapper that runs down the field and catches the ball over his head to down the football. Without us downing the football and playing field position, I believe there’s three minutes and some odd seconds left in the game. Could we have gone for it at that time? Yes, but then it becomes an all or nothing play. I had great confidence that our defense could generate a three-and-out. I had great confidence that our punt team and Trevor Daniel could down the ball there and then you play field position and you manage your timeouts. I thought Riley Lovingood and our punt team did a great job at executing the pooch kick and then, obviously, that lends itself to a strip sack and Corey Vereen scoring a touchdown. That wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t down the football there. The kickoff return that Georgia had, again, we cannot give up a big return. We had some mental mistakes on that kickoff return and Aaron Medley had to make a game saving tackle. He made a great tackle on our sideline to prevent a score there. Again, those are some of the plays that you never see. Then I thought Evan Berry’s kickoff return at the end, I thought also that Evan having the wherewithal to get out of bounds and leave four seconds on the clock where he could have actually cut back and tried to make something happen. If he does that, the ballgame is over with. We told him to get everything you can get and get out of bounds. I think executing the different kickoff return that we had on there, we’ve had that in for three years and we’ve never executed it, never done it. We practice it every Friday, but our players were ready to go.

“I just think the no panic. Ironically, one of the greatest things that we do here are the seven game maxims. If you really look at the seven game maxims, each game kind of plays upon that maxim. This was a maxim three football game. When we repeated the maxims, for some reason, we got stuck on maxim three and I made our football team repeat it three times: If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up and put on more steam. I thought that it was going to be that type of game and I’m really proud of our players.

“Now, moving on we’re in a week-to-week season. Probably the greatest challenge we have to date will be playing a Texas A&M football team that I think defines what a complete football team is. Kevin [Sumlin] is a good friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s built at Texas A&M and the progression of their football program. They’re the eighth-ranked team in the country. They already have three SEC wins, are averaging 40 points a game and averaging 520 yards per game. They have a very physical offensive line, skill all over the place at the running back and at the wide receiver positions. I think Trevor Knight has really changed their offense. He’s managing their offense. He can hurt you with his arm. He can hurt you with his legs. They’re just a complete football team. On the defensive side of the ball, they attack and run to the football. Obviously, their front seven is phenomenal. When you look at first round draft picks across the board, very deep in the interior front of their defensive front. Their safeties or corners can play man coverage and I’ve been really impressed with their safeties and how they leverage the football. Their down-hill safeties go get the football. It’s going to be a physical football game for us and then a lot of athletes on special teams. It’s going to be a great challenge, again, going on the road in this conference. That’s why it’s a week-to-week season and we’ll get back at Texas A&M and put this game to rest today and then all focus on Texas A&M and the challenge that it presents with its many challenges.”

Josh Malone | Wide Receiver | Junior | Gallatin, Tenn.

With the Georgia game now in the rear view mirror, wide receiver Josh Malone and the rest of Team 120’s offensive unit are setting their focus on studying Texas A&M’s defense. When asked about the Aggies’ defensive strengths, Malone pointed out the team’s depth, its ability to rotate snaps and play with speed – something he is looking forward to playing against this week.

“From what I see of Texas A&M, they seem like a real solid team overall on both sides of the ball. They really play fast, make a good amount of plays and its going to be a good challenge for us.”

Brett Kendrick | Offensive Lineman | RS Senior | Knoxville, Tenn.

When asked about the progress Tennessee’s offense has made from week one to week six, redshirt senior offensive tackle Brett Kendrick praised the efforts of his fellow linemen and sited pass protection as a focus for his position group. Over the last two weeks, Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs has completed a combined seven touchdown passes en route to wins over ranked Florida and Georgia opponents, while the O-Line continues to show growth and consistency.

“I think that says is all. We have settled into our spots. I have settled into left tackle and getting Chance Hall back has been huge for us. He is a great player. Dylan [Wiesman] has settled into center and Jack [Jones] has come on and been huge for us. Coleman [Thomas] is getting healthy and coming back. The consistency comes with all of that. We are really growing together and learning how to play with each other.”

Kendal Vickers | Defensive Lineman | RS Junior | Havelock, N.C.

Through its first five games, Tennessee has struggled in the first half – being outscored 77-51 during that span as opposed to a 114-38 mark in the second half of their five matchup thus far. Despite missing key defensive starters (LB Darrin Kirkland Jr., LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin and CB Cameron Sutton), the Vols’ defense again fought from behind to secure a win over Georgia last week, with redshirt junior Kendal Vickers and the defensive line helping hold the Bulldogs to just 17 yards rushing in the fourth quarter.

“We were just executing better. We came in at halftime knowing we can play better and that was our goal; just stay the course, play better, execute and that’s what we did. Our goal before the season was to be a D-Line lead team. When the pressure is on, we wanted it to be on our shoulders. I think we’re going with that mind-set every day in practice, leading towards the game.”

Riley Lovingood | Long Snapper | RS Freshman | Hendersonville, Tenn.

SEC Special Teams Player of the Week Riley Lovingood was part of one of the most unique plays late in the game on Saturday vs. Georgia. After snapping the ball to punter Trevor Daniel with less than four minutes left in the game, Lovingood ran down the field and made the catch, downing the ball on the Georgia six-yard line. The play ultimately set up a strip sack by teammate Derek Barnett and allowed Corey Vereen to recover the fumble in the end zone for a UT touchdown.

“We have never practiced that. That’s one of those things where you just make a play on the ball. I saw the ball was right over me and I was like, ‘I can run under this and catch this.’ Just give my team a chance to get the ball right there on the three or four-yard line. I caught it and I looked up and I saw Evan Berry jumping up and down and everyone started hitting me. I was like, ‘OK, I guess I did a good job right here.’”

More Sound Bites

Wide receiver Josh Malone
(On evolving as a receiver)

“I think my biggest growth as a wide receiver has been paying attention to the little things and attention to details. I just work on the small things every day to get better at them.”

Offensive lineman Brett Kendrick
(On going up against Myles Garrett of Texas A&M)

“You always want to go against the best so I am excited for it and its going to be a great opportunity. We have pretty good ones in our backyard too with Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen. So I am looking forward to it. Going up against someone so talented would be fun. I blocked Derek Barnett all of camp so I know what its like to go up against the best.”

Defensive lineman Kendal Vickers
(On scouting Texas A&M this week)

“Well they’re a great team, the stadium is amazing and their whole program over the last five, six or seven years has been a top program in the nation. We know we’ve got to come ready to play and we cant start out slow like we have been.”

Long snapper Riley Lovingood
(On being named SEC Special Teams Player of the Week)

“I was asleep in my bed, taking my nap before I came here. All of a sudden, my phone started going crazy and I was like, ‘What happened?’ I just started reading and was like wow, I never dreamed of getting honored like that. To be recognized is something that doesn’t really happen ever for a long snapper. I’m really appreciative of that.”