After a disappointing two-week stretch, Tennessee has the opportunity to get back on track with a matchup against UTSA.
With the bulk of the SEC slate on the horizon, there's an urgency to get mistakes corrected ahead of battles with South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Before the Vols take to Neyland Stadium to face the Roadrunners, head coach Josh Heupel says the team is focused on itself.
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UTSA's starting quarterback, Frank Harris, is questionable with turf toe holding him out of last week's contest. Back-up Eddie Lee Marburger got the start in the loss to Army, instead.
While Tennessee is preparing for both signal callers, a lot of the preparation lands on itself. The Vols' defense had a poor showing in the first half against Florida and has plenty of room for corrections.
“They’re a little bit different," said Heupel on the pair of quarterbacks. "At end of the day, you have to prepare for both of them. At the end of the day, it is a lot about us, though, too. The things that showed up last week, we've got to be disciplined and then go make plays. And that comes down to winning one-on-one situations.”
Some of those issues on the defensive end came down to tackling. A handful of the Gators' big plays were due to a lack of executing the fundamentals. While the opposition took care of business, Tennessee left room to be desired.
Now, the Vols are hammering home tackling to make sure a repeat of the poor performance doesn't happen.
While the team is constantly working on this after every game — no matter good or bad — it is of the utmost importance this week.
“You have a lot of tackling sessions," said Heupel. "You have game reps. The fundamentals of your tackling is something that we work every single day. And so you have to continue to work those things. Even when you’re not in live tackling situations during the course of the week, it’s about putting yourself in that fundamental position. If your eyes are right, your body position is right, you’ll continue to grow as a tackler. So, we’ve made a point of emphasis and I’m not just saying that this week. We made a point of that long before that, too."
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The offensive side of the ball also has issues to correct, though.
This lands on quarterback Joe Milton III, the offensive line, wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. While there have been positives to take away from the start to the season, there have also been glaring issues.
Possibly the biggest flaw has been the team's inability to stay out of its own way. With 10 penalties on the road at Florida, the offense was constantly behind the chains leading to short possessions.
It's these avoidable aspects of the game that must be cleaned up.
"At the end of the day, you prepare the best you can to put yourself in a position to go play your best," said Heupel. "Joe’s got things that he can do better but the guys around him have got to do things better, too. And at the end of the day, if you’re in second-and-20 all day, it makes things real difficult. So, offensively, we've got to control both. You can’t have a bunch of self-inflicted wounds. You got to play smart football, you do that, you give yourself a chance to move the football and score points.”
With the schedule ramping up in the near future, there needs to be clear improvement in these areas this week. Not only could UTSA pull off the upset, but even a win could leave a bad taste if it follows the trajectory of the recent Austin Peay game.
After the loss to the Gators, Heupel said, "Momentum is real if you allow it to be real."
Well, this Saturday could get the ball rolling for a successful season or continue to raise questions.
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