Tennessee can talk about Texas all it wants. Josh Heupel’s program isn’t interested in looking past Kennesaw State.
That disconnect showed up clearly Monday, when Heupel bristled at the idea of calling this week a “tune-up” before the Vols face the Owls on Saturday. Tennessee is a massive favorite, and plenty of fans have already shifted their attention to the Longhorns, now ranked No. 1 in the country. But the message from inside the building was blunt: the Vols are treating this one like every other game.
“It’s not a tune-up,” Heupel said. “You better show up every Saturday. You look at the scores, media, your family, your girlfriend, whoever, they might wanna pigeonhole you as this, but you decide who you are collectively as a team and as a program.”
Heupel circled back to the same idea when asked about when freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon might come out of the game. His answer made the point even more plainly.
“You can look at the scores every week,” Heupel said. “You better get ready to go play.
When the ball’s teed up, you better be playing at your best. Game unfolds, it unfolds, but you better prepare to go play for 60 minutes.”
That mindset carried over to the next day, when cornerbacks coach Derek Jones was asked about how Tennessee will handle snaps for its starters. His answer matched the head coach’s tone.
Jones said the unit is not working on a rotation right now. Ty Redmond and Kayin Lee are playing every snap unless they need a break for some reason, with Tre Poteat the next man in to provide relief. Even with the Vols expected to be in control, the plan remains the same until the game dictates otherwise.
“You have to go into every game assuming that you’re going to have to play until the end,” Jones said. “You just never know.
But, if you look at it, we hadn’t been testing a lot on deep routes. Those guys hadn’t had to cover a lot of takeoffs and come back and get in a good stance and do things.
So you would like to see them get tested in a way to where it’s not necessarily about the number of reps, but how do they play when they’re tired and how do they respond to explosive plays and some other things.
“So I think when you go into a game like this, you have to prepare those guys like it’s any other game. And then as the game unfolds, then you make those decisions.”
Tennessee and Kennesaw State kick off Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network.
If the Vols and Texas both take care of business as big favorites this week, next weekend should bring a top-15 matchup in Knoxville. Texas is No. 1 in the AP Poll, Tennessee is No. 15, and their meeting is set for noon ET on ABC.
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