Vols Game Against Mocs Scheduled For 4 p.m. Kickoff

First Meeting Between Teams Since The 1966 Season

  • Monday, September 29, 2014
  • Special to Chattanoogan.com
Coach Butch Jones and several Tennessee players met with the media on Monday at Neyland Stadium.
Coach Butch Jones and several Tennessee players met with the media on Monday at Neyland Stadium.
photo by Tennessee Athletics

The Tennessee-Chattanooga non-conference football game against Tennessee on Oct. 11 has been scheduled for a 4 p.m. kickoff.

The game will be televised by the SEC Network and is the first meeting between the teams since 1966 when the Vols won 28-10.

Tennessee leads the overall series 37-2-2 and won the last seven games before the series was discontinued after the 1996 contest. In the seven-game win streak the Vols outscored the Mocs 213-40 with shutout victories in 1959-60.

The lone Mocs wins against Tennessee came in 1958 (14-6) and 1905 (5-0).

In those early years, Tennessee won 13 of the 16 games by shutout, including nine in a row from 1920-45.

This week Tennessee will play rival Florida at noon. That game also is scheduled for noon at Neyland Stadium and will attract the second sellout crowd of the season. The Vols are coming off a tough 35-32 loss at Georgia.

The Gators have won nine in a row from the Vols dating to 2005. Tennessee’s last win (30-28) against Florida came in 2004.

Meanwhile, freshman linebacker Dillon Bates will miss the rest of the season with a torn labrum, an injury that will require surgery.

Bates is the son of former Vol Bill Bates, who spent 15 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and won three Super Bowl titles.

Checker-Boarding Neyland Stadium

It started as the brainchild of Vol fans on Twitter. In his first comments on the topic, Butch Jones said it was an example of what makes Tennessee special.

Volunteer fans will #CheckerNeyland on Saturday afternoon against Florida, a coordinated campaign of orange and white sections to create a look and an environment that with be unique in college football.

"To have a fan initiative of Checkerboard Neyland, I think it speaks volumes," Jones said. "Most places, they have to manufacture that, where our fans come out and it's on them. I'm excited."

It has the Vol players excited as well.

"Noon game, Checkerboard Neyland," Curt Maggitt said. "It's going to be epic."

A.J. Johnson said he was excited from the moment he first saw the Photoshop concepts of how the stadium will look on Saturday.

"Just looking at the pictures makes you want to play in the stadium," Johnson said. "I know our fans are going to have the emotions high and have the environment turned up."

Fans can visit checkerneyland.com and enter their section, row and seat number to find out if they should wear orange or white to help create the effect, similar to what Tennessee did in Thompson-Boling Arena for a basketball game against Kentucky in 2006.

The difference between that game and this one is that this will be completely fan-driven, something that Jones sees as just another example of what he's seen every day since his hiring in Dec. 2012. And it's what drives him to perform every day for those fans.

"The support has been outstanding," Jones said. "Our fans are incredible, I work every day for them and representing Tennessee because they are so special and it means so much to them."

That passion and support has been a foundation that Jones has been able to build his program around, brick by brick.

"They have created so much positive energy and excitement around our football program," he said. "Our players are feeding off of it, our recruits are feeding off of it, our community is feeding off of it, the state of Tennessee is feeding off of it. They've been extremely supportive and Saturday at noon should be a great, great college football environment. It should be the best environment in the country."

Johnson, one of the team's emotional leaders on and off the field, agreed with his head coach.

"Our student section is sold out, the stadium is sold out," Johnson said. "So you know they're going to be in there turned up."

Transcripts from Monday’s press conference:

Head Coach Butch Jones

"Again, a tremendous, tremendous challenge this week. A very talented Florida football team coming in here. If you look at them defensively, we believe they have two of the best players in the country at their respective positions. They may be the best in the country. You look at the corner [Vernon] Hargreaves and you look at the defense tackle/defense end [Dante] Fowler. They even put him in on man to man coverage on a slot. That is how athletic he is. These individuals can disrupt the game, they can take the game over, they are very, very explosive, they run to the football.

"Offensively, again, you are going to hear the word explosive again, they have great balance. They are averaging a little over 460 yards per game, 41 points per game. Great balance between run and pass. ([Jeff) Driskell is a dual threat, we fully anticipate a lot of designed quarterback runs in our game. They have great speed with [Demarcus] Robinson and [Quinton] Dunbar out on the perimeter. Matt Jones is a very, very good running back, very physical, downhill running back. Great offensive tackles, very good offensive line. As talented as any team we have faced all year. So again, it is going to take a great effort. We have to get back to work to continue to improve our deficiencies.

"I thought our special teams took a step forward. Aaron Medley I believe with a 46-yard field goal, which was great to see on the road. I thought Matt Darr took tremendous strides in moving forward with his hang time and the distances of his punt. I thought we took great strides there. There were a number of times where, in particular instances, our punt team had eight first and second year players and I believe six true freshman on our punt team at one time or another, running down to cover a kick. So again we continue to improve on special teams but again we will be challenged this week with a very fast and very physical Florida football team."

(On the offensive line's progression)
"It's a work in progress. I think sometimes our lack of strength shows just because of our youth. They haven't been in a full time strength and conditioning program. I think some of the line calls, a couple sacks, were basically communicative mistakes where we didn't identify the front properly.”

(On if Justin Worley is getting quicker at reading defenses)
"He's been very aggressive and very confident, and he has. His decision making process has been great. He knows where he's going with the football. He's making split second decisions. You go back to impactful plays. We do a great job and we come away with three points on the opening drive of the game, but yet we had an open receiver on a fifteen-yard dig to Alton Howard that may score or get us down to the six-yard line. Now you're talking seven points as opposed to three points, and it happens in the first possession of the game. So, maybe you don't think of it as one of those two to three to four plays that make a difference between winning and losing, but those are probably one of the two instances I brought up that Justin would like to have back. I like his aggressiveness. We talked to our football team about being assertive in their decision making process. I think he's been exceptionally assertive in what he's been able to do."

(On how Worley is feeling)
"He's fine. He kind of his funny bone and all that, but he's fine. He'll be one-hundred percent for the game."

(On Von Pearson and Josh Smith's status)
"Right now, Von Pearson is a little bit ahead of schedule. He's ahead of Josh Smith at this particular time. I'll know more later in the week. It'll be on going. We put them, the last couple weeks, we put them in protective casts just to make sure they didn't tweak it or all that. Now, they're heavy into their rehabilitation, so I'll know a little bit more as the week progresses. Right now, I'd say that Von is ahead of Josh in terms of recovery."

(On Marlin Lane and Derrell Scott)
"Marlin continues to progress. He hurt his shoulder a little bit but he is back full strength now. It is just that we have some certain plays for Jalen [Hurd] but we believe he is one of those players that can make you right when you are wrong. You look at Todd Gurley, you look at yards after contact, you look at some of the yards Gurley is able to generate on his own. For us to be successful, if the play is blocked for seven yards we can't just have seven yards. We need to get nine, 10, 11, 12. Marlin will continue to get better at that and he hasn't had very many opportunities with that. He works exceptionally hard and we are going to need him down the stretch. This is a physical, physical football league and you can't just make it through the season with one or two running backs. Derrell Scott will be an individual that his volume work will continue to grow as well. Having him involved in the offense, having him involved in certain plays, will continue to expand as well. We need running backs and that is a point of emphasis in our football program. The mark of a great running back is durability and as we all know this is a physical game and a physical conference."

(On Jalen Hurd's yards after contact)
"He has about 48. There was one game where everyone stopped and thought the play was over, and he gained about 12 yards after that."

(On redshirting sophomore quarterback Josh Dobbs)
"We'll see. We'll see how that goes. In a perfect world, yes, but Josh is prepared to play each and every week. As we've come to know around here, you're one snap away. Sometimes, you're two snaps away. He gets valuable reps in practice just like [Nathan Peterman], but Nate has done a great job in practice. I thought Nate did some good things when he got into the game. We just can't turn the football over."

(On Florida winning nine straight in the series)
"I can't speak of the past. All I know is the present, and Team 118 controls that this week. The great thing is most of our football team hasn't even been here for those games. I can't comment on what's gone on in the past. All I know is we have to control what we can control."

(On how to get relief for Jalen Reeves-Maybin in regards to number of snaps)
"Cortez McDowell is a young man who continues to progress. He is kind of following the progression of Jalen last year, where he continues to get better and better and better in his football intelligence. Every special teams play, he'd come up to me and tell me exactly what he saw and what was going on. We talk about live the game. We talk about the mental part of it is work the game. Work it mentally every day, even in practice. There are some individuals that play the game, but they can't really tell you what happened when they came to the sideline, where [McDowell] is able to tell you everything. He's an individual that needs to step up now at linebacker. Jakob Johnson is in the same predicament. We're going to demand more from him at the linebacker position as well."

Senior Linebacker A.J. Johnson

(On how not to try not to do too much on defense)
"Pretty much, like you said, that's what happened. I'm trying to do too much, trying to make too many plays. I just need to play inside the system. I feel like this last game, I was playing with more emotion instead of playing inside a system and playing with my keys and reads and stuff like that. I got away from my technique and stuff like that. It was probably one of my worst games."

(On it being his worst game even with 17 tackles)
"Yeah, seventeen tackles really don't mean anything. It's about production. I can get that many tackles, but I played outside the system. So, it's probably one of my worst games. I'm going to correct that and have that right this week for Florida."

(On what pops in his head when he thinks Florida week)
"I think about big game. It's a big game. It's going to be a good environment out there. You're going to have to perform to the best of your abilities. You're going to have to step up and make plays. That's the first thing that pops in my head is play. You like playing. You like playing in rivalry games. You've got to bring out the best you can in those games. You're going to have to perform."

(On playing against a guy like Jeff Driskel)
"We played against running quarterbacks our first two games. We did pretty good containing them. It's just what we rehearse in practice. We already broke down the film today as a defense. Early this morning we came together and broke down the film. We saw they had a couple designed quarterback runs and stuff like that. Just everybody playing in their fits and playing in their keys, we'll be able to control that. When you have a running quarterback it helps your offense if you have a gap that's uncounted for. So, we're going to have to have people be able to make a play and get off and make a play."

(On Todd Kelly Jr.'s interception)
"That junk was sick. I was running down the field and I look over and I just saw him in the air, just midair caught the ball and it felt good too. It wasn't anything that shocked me because he's already made those plays in practice plenty of times. That's why he's out there playing with us because we know what he can do. He can make plays and he's a baller. So, it was a great play by him to change momentum of the game and it felt real good seeing him make that play too."

(On if he is faster than he was last year)
"A lot of people are saying I look faster and stuff on the field. I feel like I'm still the same speed, but if people say I look faster, I must be faster."

Junior Linebacker Curt Maggitt

(On if he's talked to Dillon Bates after his injury)
"Yeah I talked to him. My advice to him was everything happens for a reason, embrace the process. He's got a lot of time left. He's still a freshman. So, don't look down on himself and figure out a way he can still be a positive influence to the team"

(On if the Florida game will be different for him with him being from Florida)
"It's a great opportunity for us. Every week is its own season. We've got to have a great week of preparation. Like I said, all through the season we've been feeling our fans' positive energy and positive support on us. Now, after two weeks, two away games and a bye week, we're finally back in Neyland. So, it's going to be a great week."

(On the checkerboard Neyland Stadium initiative)
"That's going to be tight. I think that's going to be real cool. Noon game, checkerboard Neyland, I think it's going to be epic. That's what I think." (On why he thinks he was effective against Georgia) "Personally, I like playing against teams that run twenty-one, twenty-two type personnel. I guess that has something to do with it. The weeks prior, it wasn't as much bigger personnel. So, going into SEC play, that's the kind of games I enjoy most. I guess I just did my job."

(On what they have seen from Florida so far)
"I think they're a good team. Pretty good O-line, a couple good running backs, I'm excited for them to come in. It's going to be a real good game, real physical game."

(On if this week means more than others)
"It's a rivalry for sure. So, that stands out but we know we've got to approach it just like every other week preparation wise, starting with practice."

(On the hardest habits they have to break the younger players of)
"My goal is to try to help them focus on one week at a time, not look down the line and figure out who we're playing in three weeks or anything like that. Just put all your energy and emotion and passion into just this one week, one practice at a time. Approach every practice like a business and get better every day."

Sophomore Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin

(On being from Tennessee and going against the Gators in Neyland)

"It was always a big dream for me. I wouldn't really say I expected to do it though. Just always working and striving to get to this place. Finally here, so definitely excited to play this weekend and try to make some big plays."

(On how many snaps he can play)
"I feel like I can go all day. It doesn't really matter, I just want to win. That's all that really matters. I'll play all the special teams. It doesn't really matter."

(On young guys stepping up with Dillon Bates out)
"It'll probably be Elliott Berry and Cortez McDowell behind me, but those guys have been working hard since camp. So, I've got a lot of faith in those guys. It's going to hurt with Dillon being out. He had built that trust up to where he could go in there and play those snaps, but I think those two guys will be able to experiment if we need it. They'll be able to step in and play that role."

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

 

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