Forget Bowling Green, Vols Focus On Tough Sooners

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee coach Butch Jones met with the media on Monday to recap the Vols' win over Bowling Green and preview Saturday's match-up with No. 19 Oklahoma.

(Opening Statement) 
"It's good to see everyone on Labor Day.  Good start, obviously needed to be 1-0.

We're 1-0. However, watching the video, we need to take great strides in moving forward from Game 1 to Game 2. As we speak about all the time, there needs to be significant improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 and that's usually what good teams do. Obviously, the quality of opponent coming in here will be a challenge.

"Now we all also understand that the team we are about to face here in less than a week, I believe is a top five football team and a top five football program. I have a lot of respect for Bob (Stoops). I think he illustrates the difference between building a team and building a program. I think they're one of the most underrated football teams in the country. They're very skilled, they're physical, they're tough. And they're a complete football team in all three phases. So it's going to take anything and everything that we have to be able to compete with them on Saturday."

(On how Coleman Thomas looked in the season opener) 
"Well, Coleman is an individual that has continued to progress and get better and better and center is his natural position. His athletic ability and with him being able to pull and get out on the edge – whether it was blocking a corner or linebacker at the point of attack – blocked for two of our touchdowns, he was directly responsible. For him making his first career start at center, we thought he played really well."

(On Todd Kelly Jr.)
"Todd brings a calming effect. It's just like Brian Randolph, who puts his time in. He's one of those individuals who has a base line level of performance. He can make checks. He puts us in the right calls. He's a problem solver. TK is that exact same way. You could see the defense kind of, not relax, but have a calmness about themselves when TK entered the game because he works at it. It's important to him. He understands the nature of the safety position and what it means from a communicative aspect. He's 100 percent. We expect him to be ready to go against Oklahoma."

(On preparing for Oklahoma's offense)
"Well, we need to get better in a hurry. We have a football team coming in here that's skilled. A very big, physical, imposing offensive line. Three running backs that I would argue would be as good as any three running backs in the country. Not a tandem, but they have three. They complement each other just like Jalen (Hurd) and Alvin (Kamara) do.

“We need to get better in a hurry, but I think, with a naked eye, everyone wants to point toward the secondary. That's not how pass defense works. It's all 11 individuals, and it starts up front with generating a pass rush. It starts up front with our get off the ball and the use of our hands. It starts with the second level, with our linebackers, and then the third level is our secondary. We did not play well defensively at all in the game against Bowling Green. We had some individuals do some uncharacteristic things. Our players take pride in their performance. They understand that and the great thing is we can work to correct the problems this week, but it wasn't just the secondary.

“Football is played by good players. They're going to throw the ball up, a 50-50 ball. That's why they're called 50-50 balls. They're going to make plays, everybody's on scholarship. I don't have a problem if you're in man coverage and the opponent makes a great play, and it's a great throw, and it's a great catch. It's football. If we have a mental error, if we have lack of effort, lack of fundamentals or technique, that's where we have the issues and the problems. It's a combination of both. Sometimes it was a really good quarterback making a great throw, and the receiver making a great play. Other times, it was maybe us not generating a pass rush. Playing great pass defense, there's a lot of working parts and pieces and components.”

(On Cameron Sutton covering Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma WR, the entire game)
"The problem with them, is that they don't only have Shepard, they have a corps of receivers that are very talented and very elusive. They do a great job of getting the ball to their backs and creating space. They're an up-tempo offense. Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma offensive coordinator) does a very good job, and they create mismatches.”

(On if the OU game will teach him a lot about his team)
"You're exactly right. I was thinking about that today, we're playing the best of the best. Again, they're a top-five football team, top-five football program. We'll know a little bit more of where we're at after the game from a competitive standpoint, from a physical standpoint, from everything. I think it's great preparation when going into our conference play is we'll know a little bit more where we need to go. And obviously, Bowling Green was a very good football team, but now when you're playing the Oklahomas you know exactly where you're at. If you have any deficiencies, they'll be exposed.”

(On what he's seen from freshman DL Kahlil McKenzie)
"Kahlil is working his way back into the rotation. Him missing about a week to a week-and-a-half really set his development back just in terms of football stamina, technique. He's a youngster. Again, he has no base-line level of performance. He's working to that.”

(On Oklahoma's offense with QB Baker Mayfield)
"Well Baker, first of all, quick release. He can spit the ball out there exceptionally fast. He can deal it out there, quick release, sprints to the football to get the offense lined up. I can tell that he plays with a lot of passion, a lot of energy. Strong arm. And he's comfortable. I think he's running an offense that fits his skillset and he has a lot of weapons around him with a very big, imposing offensive line.”

(His evaluation of LBs Colton Jumper and Darrin Kirkland Jr.) "The situation's the same. I thought Colton did a very good job of lining us up, communication-wise, getting us in the right defenses. There's one play we would love to have back and that's the fourth-and-3 play, obviously. But I thought for the first game and Colton being on the field for the first game, I thought he did a very good job.

"For Darrin Kirkland, Every snap is a new learning experience and it shows he has the ability to be a very good football player. Very explosive, can run. Now it's just the mental part of the game and getting lined up and communicating, which every true freshman goes through.”

(On the stoppage in play after a BGSU lineman lost his shoe) "That kind of looked like me the other day trying to go for a walk and being out of shape. But, you know, we met with the officials in preseason like we always do and when it's equipment [the player] has to get off the field. Obviously, it's a fine line that puts the officials in a challenging situation with protecting the student-athletes out on the field and injuries. But they stopped the clock because they were concerned it could be an injury, which, you know, I agree with that."

(On his defense's communication against Bowling Green) "There were some. We didn't do a very good job - individuals did a good job from a communicative standpoint but I thought as a defense in general we did not do a very good job communicating. We had too many mental errors and to play winning football you can't have the amount of mental errors that we had. Again, first game, going fast, a lot of things happening, but that's inexcusable. And we understand that as coaches, that's on us. Our players understand it as well. And it's everyone taking accountable to fix it, correct it. We'll get it corrected, but we just had way too many mental errors. I thought we didn't tackle particularly well in space and we didn't leverage the football very well in space. And those are all things that you worry about going into a first game."

(On Marquez North's limited stats in the BGSU game)
"We have to get the ball into the hands of Marquez. Marquez is one of our play-makers and he has worked very hard. But it was just one of those games where we had a rhythm going, we were running the football and wanted to stay to it and protect our defense a little bit.”

 Quarterback Joshua Dobbs

(On the importance of the Oklahoma game)

"It's exciting. It's a great opportunity, always to play on the national stage and go out and compete against the best. You come to Tennessee for games like this. You come to Tennessee to play against the best. We're definitely excited about the opportunity we have this week to play."

(On Pig Howard's return to the offense)

"Pig's an explosive player. I'll stay within the schemes, stay within the play, reading my progressions and staying true to the scheme, but Pig's a dynamic player. He makes plays with the ball in his hands, as we know, and having him back will be great."

Running back Alvin Kamara

(On what stands out about Oklahoma from film study)

"They're physical. They're a physical team. We've got to prepare. We've got to work on our physicality and just work on our style of play, whether that be blocking downfield, using our hand violence. Just things like that, little things to by physical right back at them."

(On Coleman Thomas' blocking)

"Coleman is almost faster than me. Coleman, he did a great job blocking up at the second level. Our whole O-line did a great job. Coleman, he does move fast when he gets up to the second level and that is helpful."

Offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson

(On the success against Bowling Green)

"It gives us a lot of confidence, and I think the more confidence you have, the better you play. It's not over-confidence, by any means, but we're happy with our performance and there's definitely places where we can grow. We can grow in our style of play, is what we're talking about, and being able to finish blocks a lot more."

Note: Kerbyson was selected as the SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Monday.

Kerbyson headed up the Vols' offensive line which led the way for 604 yards of total offense including 399 rushing yards in a 59-30 win over Bowling Green. The rushing yardage total was the most since the Vols rushed for 406 yards vs. Vanderbilt in 1994. Tennessee had a pair of 100-yard running backs in a game for the first time since 2009 vs. Western Kentucky as Alvin Kamara (144) and Jalen Hurd (123) each broke the century mark. Joshua Dobbs also threw for 205 yards and was sacked just once. Tennessee's 59 points were the most since that Western Kentucky (63 points) game, which opened the 2009 season.

"It's a great honor, I can't say enough, I'm so happy that I got the award, but it's really not me, its Jalen, Kamara, Dobbs and the offensive skill guys helped me to get that award," said Kerbyson.

Offensive lineman Jashon Robertson

(On how much he has studied last year's OU game)

"Just in general, from last year to this year in the spring and right after the season, I sat down with Antone (Davis) and whoever I could and re-evaluated my whole season and not just Oklahoma, but the ins and outs of every game. Things as far as the margin of error things – hand placement, a step being shorter or longer, landmarks, second level, pull, all that kind of stuff. It will be a big factor in this game with the stakes being so high and the talent level being so high."

Offensive lineman Coleman Thomas

(On starting at center)

"I think I played okay, but it was great getting back at center, that being my natural position. Obviously, there's some things to improve on, watching the film. We're going to correct those things this week and get ready for Oklahoma."

(On helping his teammates with facing Oklahoma LB Eric Striker)

"He's a great player. He's obviously an elusive player with different moves, but I think [we should] just trust in what the coaches are going to teach them, and we'll go day-by-day at that."

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)