Key takeaways: Vols prepare for SEC opener at Florida

Tennessee's final tuneup before the start of SEC play didn't go as smoothly as planned.

The Vols' offense looked sluggish out of the gate, which allowed Austin Peay to hang around into the fourth quarter in a 30-13 win. Now, No. 11 Tennessee (2-0) has less than a week to prepare for a road tilt at Florida (1-1) on Saturday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville where the Vols haven't won since 2003.

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Head coach Josh Heupel, tight ends McCallan Castles and Jacob Warren and linebacker Elijah Herring met with the media on Monday to preview the match up.

Here are the takeaways.

Tennessee's defensive improvement has been evident through two games.

The coaching staff emphasized the importance of getting to the quarterback during the offseason and it has shown. The Vols have accounted for 11 sacks and 25 tackles for loss.

Up front, Tennessee has picked up where it left off after finishing as one of the best run stoppers in the SEC a year ago. The Vols limited to Virginia and Austin Peay to less than 100 yards rushing but will face their biggest test against Florida.

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The Gators boast one of the better running back rooms in the league in Montrell Johnson Jr. and Trevor Etienne. Florida struggled to establish the run vs. Utah in week 1 but rushed for nearly 330 yards against McNeese State in its last outing.

"We've done a good job of destructing blocks at the line of scrimmage," Heupel said. "The second and third levels fit it right and at the end of the day, we've changed the line of scrimmage the first couple of weeks. This will be the best offensive line that we've seen. They're big, strong, they're athletic and look like a typical Florida offensive line."

Offensively, Tennessee has gotten off to slow starts in its last two games but has been able to overcome it.

Quarterback Joe Milton III and the wide receiving corps have yet to find consistency. Milton missed on a couple of open throws over the middle of the field last week and when he has put balls in the right place, the receivers haven't been able to haul it in.

In their first true road game of the season, it will be paramount for the Vols to find their rhythm early.

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"At the end of the day, we've got to go make some plays," Heupel said. "That's throwing it a little bit better. That's catching it a little bit better. There's big chunks of yardage in open grass for us to go make. Joe would tell you he's got to hit a couple of those. We've got to make the play out on the perimeter. Some subtle things fundamentally that can help you be more accurate with the ball, but we've seen him operate in that. We just didn't execute it very well early in the football game."

While the passing game has struggled, Tennessee's running backs have been the headliners on offense.

In two games, Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson have combined for 455 yards and Wright rushed led the Vols in rushing with 115 and 118 yards, respectively and Small tallied 95 yards on 13 carries vs. Austin Peay.

Tennessee has been without Cooper Mays since early in fall camp, but Heupel's most recent update on the starting center was promising.

Mays practiced with the team in the week leading up to the Austin Peay game and was even dressed out on Saturday but did not see the field. Heupel expected Mays to practice this week as well.

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"(Mays) was with us last week. Warmed up with us (before the Austin Peay game)," Heupel said. "We made a decision pretty early in the week that he would probably not play in that football game and anticipate him having a good week of practice here and being ready."

If Mays gets reps at Florida, it will be his first meaningful snaps since the Orange Bowl vs. Clemson on Dec. 30, 2022 but Heupel didn't seem concerned about the adjustment Mays would have to make.

"If (Mays) is playing, we have great confidence that he's going to play at the level that he wants to and we need him, too," Heupel said.

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