Quick HiTs: Vols shift indoors for Tide prep
Tennessee worked almost exclusively indoors Wednesday for essentially the first time this season as it worked toward Saturday's showdown at top-ranked Alabama.
The Vols were in shells as they worked in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center and continued along a stretch of five-straight ranked opponents that began with an overtime loss to Georgia and continued with last week's 23-21 last-second win against South Carolina.
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Head coach Butch Jones continued to have extremely loud music piped into the speakers throughout the Vols' work as they try to prepare for what is expected to be a very volatile setting Saturday afternoon inside Bryant-Denny Stadium (3:30 p.m., CBS).
Josh Smith and Alex Bullard continued to be limited while Riley Ferguson had a black wrap on his leg for the second-straight day. Additionally quarterback Justin Worley again donned gloves for his work guiding the offense.
The Vols did focus on some special teams work outside, but Jones clearly is continuing to try and manage his roster and keep his players' fresh in this grueling stretch, especially as depth concerns linger.
Trevarris Saulsberry also continued to work his way back into form. Continuing a strong rotation along the defensive front is a key point of emphasis for the Vols, especially against an improving and gargantuan Alabama offensive line.
The Tide's depth everywhere is perhaps the Vols' biggest concern entering this game. Tennessee has raved about its conditioning and it certainly has shown in recent weeks, but that conditioning will meet its greatest challenge this week in the form of the Tide's superior depth at virtually all positions.
Our staff will have full coverage throughout the night and all day Thursday on VolQuest.com. We'll tweet news and post items on the message board in addition to having full stories and video coverage from post-practice comments from Tennessee's assistant coaches.