Tennessee looks to improve road communication with healthy Cooper Mays

Through two and a half seasons, the Vols are just 5-5 on true away games. Compared to their nearly flawless mark at home that features just three losses in 2021, this is a disappointing record.

What has hurt Tennessee in away environments such as Florida, Georgia and South Carolina is avoidable penalties. These pre-snap procedure infractions have often been credited to break downs in communication due to loud crowds.

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Tight end Jacob Warren has played in plenty of ruckus and high pressure situations during his time at Tennessee.

Now, he is prepared to face distractions in practice to get everyone on the same page before traveling to Alabama.

"Obviously, we'll practice with it," said Warren. "We'll hear it all week. We'll hear their songs all week, we'll hear crowd noise all week. Just being able to focus. Lock in. I think that a lot of the problems come from just that. Lapse of focus. You're thinking about something else or you're thinking about, you know, your job or where your guy is you're supposed to be blocking. At the end of the day, the most important thing is can we eliminate penalties? Can we play clean?"

In the Vols' lone loss of the 2023 season to this point, it was these penalties that played a big part in the defeat. Tennessee was whistled 10 times in the game for a total of 79 yards.

However, a crucial part of the offensive operation was missing from that contest. Now, center Cooper Mays is back in action. Ollie Lane previously controlled the snapping duties but has been moved back to guard.

Like Warren, Mays has played a lot of football in front of large and hostile crowds. Now that he is used to it, he knows what it takes to succeed.

"Probably your first time it's going to be eye opening, from there, it's just going to be just a loud environment every time in the SEC," said Mays. "Every SEC environment is going to be top notch. Bama is going to be the same way. We've just got to find ways to work around that and prevail from it. Just like I said, doing your job at a high level and having communication when its loud is the critical point."

When it's difficult to communicate in front of large crowds, teams often switch to a silent count. Instead, of going with a verbal signal, this helps the team stay on the same page.

Mays says it isn't just getting the signal that makes things tough, though. It is an overall distraction and pest that you have to deal with all game.

"If you went to your every day job and somebody put a speaker right next to your head and it got about as loud as it gets, you probably wouldn't be very good at your job," said Mays. "That's just the challenge. It's an added level of chaos."

For Tennessee to reach it's potential, it'll need to see more success on the road. It cost the Vols a trip to the playoffs a year ago and could be an issue again.

However, with Mays back, an improvement needs to be seen.

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