University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Report: South Carolina Week Begins
October 09, 2017 | Football
Coming off a bye week, the Vols are focused on their SEC East matchup against South Carolina
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones, offensive coordinator Larry Scott, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and seniors Brett Kendrick and Kendal Vickers spoke to reporters on Monday in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Tennessee is coming off a bye week and the Vols resume SEC play against South Carolina on Saturday with a noon ET kickoff on ESPN.
"I thought we had a very productive bye week," Jones said. "We were able to get a lot of things accomplished from a lot of our freshmen and younger players that really haven't accumulated reps over time. We tried to really manufacture game-speed repetitions. I think it was good for our health and we'll get some individuals, hopefully, back here very shortly and just playing football."
Jones spoke about the challenge the Gamecocks will present this weekend in Neyland Stadium.
"They are a very good football team," Jones said. "They're going to be coming in here with a lot of confidence. When you look at their football team, they force you to execute in all three phases. They're plus seven in the turnover margin. As we all know, they really scored four times on defense last week. One was taken off the board. Two of them occurred in the same possession or same drive. They are a really good football team with a lot of confidence. They are 4-2. Two of their losses have been very close as well. So, it's a great challenge and a great opportunity and it all starts with preparation."
VFL Reunion This Weekend
Tennessee will host its fourth annual VFL Reunion, welcoming former players back to Rocky Top and Neyland Stadium.
Butch Jones and the Vols will welcome back over 200 former players as part of the program's VFL Reunion game. The VFLs will have the opportunity to take part in the Vol Walk and will also join Team 121 in the greatest Tennessee traditional of all, running through the T as UT takes the field.
Refreshed and Re-energized
After five-straight weeks of football to start the season, the Vols held three productive practices last week before getting some rest during the bye weekend.
"I think the bye week may have been the most successful since I have been here," Kendrick said. "We had three very good practices. They were all full-pad practices, so we had some physicality. We had some good inside run periods against the defense. I think it was really productive, and I definitely think we got better."
Vickers, who admitted to playing some NBA 2K video games this weekend, spoke about the team's refocused mindset.
"We're ready to get after it," he said. "We got this weekend off to kind of be like to ourselves, a little bit, kind of rest our bodies. But it's go time now. There are seven games left. We have a lot to play for and I think we're ready to go."
Focus and Consistency
Scott said that the UT offense worked on getting players in the right state of mind and working on minimizing mistakes. To be successful in the SEC, consistency is key and mistakes are costly.
"We've got to tighten up the focus," Scott said. "Every time you watch some football, I don't care on what level, what hurts offenses and what hurts teams are mistakes in the wrong time, in a bad situation. And when you're really trying to move forward and get some things going and get in a rhythm and you have a mistake, it always hurts and it sets you back."
On defense, Shoop said that freshmen Deandre Johnson and Matthew Butler will have opportunities to step up this week.
"Deandre has played," Shoop said. "He's been in the rotation through the course of the year so I'm not too concerned about him. Matt is very diligent. He's a hard worker. Probably his best quality is also his worst quality in that he's very hard on himself. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play and it will be a great experience for him to play against a really great South Carolina team."
