Advertisement
football Edit

Notebook: Tennessee heads south for the 104th Third Saturday in October

KNOXVILLE, TENN — Tennessee heads south to Tuscaloosa this weekend for the 104th Third Saturday in October. Or in this year’s case, the Fourth Saturday in October.

For the Vols, it feels like quite a quick turnaround given the events of last Saturday night inside of Neyland Stadium as they fell to then-ranked No. 13 Ole Miss 31-26. Despite the disappointment from the loss, Josh Heupel has been pleased how his team has responded in practice this week.

“I just believe in the competitive spirit inside of our building,” Heupel told the media this week. “I believe what we’re building, the effort and strain that they’re playing with. The other night wasn’t perfect. At no point did you ever question the effort and the want-to. I believe in who those guys are. As you build a program, that’s the first place that it starts.

“In the office on Sunday with our staff, I really didn’t have any question who they were going to be when they walked into the building this Monday. Disappointment, yep. Learn from it. Man, once we got out on the grass, energy, vibe, demeanor all picked up. Tuesday and Wednesday has been awesome.”

Injuries Taking Its Toll

Tennessee (4-3) entered the season with well-documented depth issues. Now, the Vols must take on No. 4 Alabama (6-1) with injuries mounting throughout the roster.

The center of UT’s everlasting injury conversation this week has been starting quarterback Hendon Hooker after he left the Ole Miss game early with a knee injury. Hooker has been able to practice throughout the week and appears to be on track to play despite Heupel maintaining that he’s “day-to-day.”

Starting right tackle Cade Mays also left the Ole Miss game, but much earlier. Mays lasted four plays as he suffered an ankle injury that prevented him from returning and it doesn’t seem that he’s on track to play this weekend. His brother, Cooper, on the other hand, is trending in the right direction after not playing in the last three games.

“I think Coop (Mays) is close to being back.,” Heupel said on Vol Calls. “We’re going to find out how we finish the week here. Cade (Mays) is a little day-to-day at this point. I think there’s an opportunity for him to be ready to go and we’ll find out truly at the end of the week.”

The Vols are also banged up at running back. Tiyon Evans (ankle), Jabari Small (shoulder), Jaylen Wright (toe) and Len’neth Whitehead are all banged up, but Heupel stated that “running back-wise, we're continuing to get healthy.”

“We’ll be close to a full stable if we don’t have a full stable of running backs when we get down to Tuscaloosa,” Heupel said.

This Game Still Means Something

Both head coaches were adamant this week that the Third Saturday in October still means something despite Alabama having won 14 in a row over Tennessee.

Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach of all-time who has dealt with little resistance from the Vols, recognizes what this game means.

“It’s significant to a lot of people, and what happened the last however many years will have no impact on this game at all,” Saban said this week. “It’s a rivalry game to me.”

It didn’t take long for Heupel to understand the importance. In fact, he found out the moment he stepped off the plane when he arrived in Knoxville for the first time after being hired.

“Excited to get an opportunity to go play in this one,” Heupel said. “As soon as I touched down here in Knoxville, this was the game that this fanbase and these players let me know was important — one that they’re extremely excited about. For our coaching staff, this is a lot of our first times to be in this game, in this environment. Looking forward to going down there and competing with our group of guys.”

Other Tidbits

- The Vols could receive help along the offensive line soon. Heupel said this week that there’s a reasonable expectation that K’Rojhn Calbert could return from a biceps injury in November. Calbert suffered the injury during the first week of fall camp.

- Heupel on why he hired defensive coordinator Tim Banks: "His track record as a coordinator and the types of defenses that he has been able to put together. Philosophically off of the field, who he is, what he’s about, what he’s trying to do inside of the game, and when I say that, relationships with players, the ability to teach them the game, the ability to have a real connection with them outside of the game, too, is important into building the type of culture we want inside of our program.

“He’s a builder of men, he’s a builder of defenses. His ability to be multiple in his schemes from four-down to three-down, his pressure packages, to his coverage variation, it sounds easy to be able to teach that to young men, 18 to 22. It’s really difficult to be able to package all that together. He’s done a fantastic job with them.”

- Josh Heupel on running back Dee Beckwith: "(He was) still trying to find his way in that position group. The last couple weeks he’s probably had his best, as far as practice habits and understanding what we’re doing. He’s a guy that will be with us this weekend.”

- Nick Saban on Tennessee's success this season: "They've done a good job of, like, overhauling and getting some players in that could make an immediate impact, which I think you have an opportunity to do with players being able to transfer like they are now.

“And they’ve done a really good job of that, and they should be certainly credited for the job that they’ve done to kind of retool and get players that can do well in their system, and they’ve certainly done that. I mean, both their quarterbacks have played well when they’ve played. They’ve improved the skill level. The runner is the best player on the offensive team in terms of consistent performance and production, even though he’s been injured a little bit lately.

Matchups to Watch

Henry To'o To'o vs. Tennessee

I know Vol fans are tired of hearing about Henry To'o To'o and it's not literally him facing off against Tennessee, but it's a huge storyline in this game. It'll be interesting to see how To'o To'o plays against his former team.

Tennessee's right tackle vs. Will Anderson

With the likelihood that Cade Mays doesn't play due to injury, it places a large responsibility on the shoulders of Dayne Davis or Jeremiah Crawford to slow down Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson, who is second in the country in sacks with seven.

Stats to Know

- Tennessee and Alabama are meeting for the 104th time. Alabama leads the series 58- 38-7 all-time. The Tide has won 14 in a row in the series, and the Vols are seeking their first win over Alabama since a 16-13 victory on Oct. 21, 2006, in Knoxville. UT’s last win in Tuscaloosa occurred in 2003 — the five overtime game.

- Tennessee is tied with Ole Miss for the national lead in plays per minute at 2.90. UT averages 1.50 points per minute, which ranks sixth in the FBS and second in the SEC.

- The Vols are tallying 75.71 offensive plays per game, which is second in the SEC and 16th in the FBS. By comparison, UT averaged 66.0 offensive plays per game in 2020 (100th in FBS).

- With 275 points, Tennessee has already eclipsed its entire point total of 2020 (215 in 10 games). That tally is the most through the first seven games of a season at UT since the 1915 team (106 years ago) scored 303 through its first seven games. The Vols’ 275 points rank seventh in the FBS and second in the SEC (Alabama 315). UT is averaging 39.3 points per game, good for 11th in the FBS and third in the SEC.

- Jeremy Banks' 9.0 tackles for a loss rank second in the SEC and 11th in the country. Backs has recorded a tackle for a loss in four straight games.

- Hendon Hooker's 179.75 quarterback ranking ranks fifth in the country and second in the SEC, trailing Alabama's Bryce Young (180.40).

- Jaylen McCollough's three interceptions rank second in the SEC and seventh in the country.

Advertisement