Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones spoke to reporters at Wednesday's press conference.
Tennessee hosts No. 7 Georgia on Saturday with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS. Jones spoke about some of the challenges that the talented Bulldogs present on both sides of the ball.
"They are number one in the nation in red zone scoring," Jones said.
"They are number one in red zone defense in the Southeastern Conference. They have many plays on offense over 20 yards. They are one of the few defenses in the nation that have not (given) up a play over 40 yards. They have great depth. I know our players are looking forward to Saturday."
Jones said that it is important for the Vols to be productive on first down.
"Everything is about first-down efficiency," he said. "When we talk about first-down efficiency, four yards, whether pass or run, is considered efficient. We have to be about 65 percent at first-down efficiency. When you look at scoring drives, most first downs occur on first or second down opposed to third down. When you go and look at the video from last week we had way too many 2nd-and-12 and 2nd-and-15 plays.
“Against a team like this, we have to be ahead of the sticks. Like I said on Monday, against this defense, a 2-yard run can be a productive run. What we have to do is, stay ahead of the chains and work to eliminate negative yardage plays. That's one of the critical elements of this game, staying on schedule, so to speak, on first and second down. They do a great job on third down, so we can't be in third and long situations."
Additional Quotes
Opening Statement:
“We will start off with our injury update for this week. Evan Berry, Jakob Johnson and Latrell Williams will all be out for this game. Everyone else should be available and they are progressing very well. Some things that stick out about Georgia are, they are number one in the nation in red zone scoring. They are number one in the nation in red zone scoring. They are number one in red zone defense in the Southeastern Conference. They have many plays on offense over 20 yards. They are one of the few defenses in the nation that have not gave up a play over 40 yards. They have great depth. I know our players are looking forward to Saturday.”
On his relationship with Jim Chaney:
“I’ve had a chance to watch Jim Chaney for a very long time. That dates to when he was at Purdue. I have a lot of respect for him. He has a very good offensive mind. I’ve enjoyed spending time with him. They give you so many different personnel groupings it hard to get ready for them. They have a lot of talent and I’ve followed Jim Chaney for a long time.”
On how the defensive line has performed after losing Derek Barnett and Corey Vereen:
“Obviously, they were extremely productive for us. Not only did they impact the game, but they also impacted practice and they impacted the locker room with their leadership. Obviously, a Derek Barnett (is someone) you just never replace, or a Corey Vereen. You look at what LaTroy Lewis has been able to do. I’m proud of those individuals, but the beauty of college football is new opportunities. I think we’ve had some individuals really step up. When you look at Darrell Taylor, he continues to progress. He’s one of the leaders on our football team. You look at the constant growth and development of Jonathan Kongbo, and last year from him starting on the outside and then by the end of the year having to play defensive tackle, and now having the ability to move him back to his natural position has really helped. I’ve been really pleased with the progression of Kyle Phillips. Kyle has really done a nice job, and you can see him from game one all the way throughout the course of the season now continuing to get better inside with Kahlil (McKenzie). Then, what can I say about Kendal Vickers. He’s a warrior, he’s a mainstay, he’s extremely tough, and he’s also developed into one of our leaders as well.”
On Georgia's offensive line:
“I think that’s one of the progressions of their football team. I’ve been very impressed with their offensive line. The way they run off the football, they’re physical, they play with very good pad level, and they’re able to protect the quarterback. It’s going to be a great challenge for our individuals up front. Then you add the physical nature of their running backs. I think the other thing with all their running backs, is all their skill sets complement each other. Nick Chubb is a dynamic running back, and he’ll play a long time. Sony Michel does some really good things. I think those two complement each other. So when you look at their running back group that they have, no matter who’s in the game, there’s never any drop off. That’s what you look at with the depth of their football team. Defensively, sometimes they’ll substitute three different units, and by the last play of the Mississippi State game in the first quarter, they had already played 20 individuals on defense. We don’t see any drop off no matter who’s on the field for them, and that’s going to be a great challenge.”
On Jake Fromm and Georgia’s offense:
“Well, first of all with Jake you see poise. You see poise in an individual, you see the confidence in an individual, and he can make all the throws, and he is very mature. You just look back from little league to everything, and so again I see a poised individual. I believe his teammates around him believe him you can see that. Again we have to do a good job of containing him and impacting the quarterback and that’s going to be a great challenge. They’re going to do what they do. They’re going to run their system, just like us I think it’s a quarterback-friendly system, but there really isn’t much difference schematically from what you see with the two different quarterbacks.”
On the running backs workload and John Kelly:
“It all starts with John Kelly, but we spoke about that as a staff is Ty Chandler needs to be more involved, which will involve him a little bit more. He continues to get better and better from a pass protection standpoint week in and week out in practice. He’s earned that right to play more. Tim Jordan as well. Tim has done a good job of learning, again there’s so much with the freshman running back from pass protection to routes to blocking assignments to your run reads and understanding the tempo of the run play and how the blocking schemes work how to hug the three-technique when to cut at the heels of the offensive linemen. I see those individuals starting to grow and to develop. They’re earning our trust; they are earning the trust of their teammates. I could see more of our running backs being actively involved this week. We are going to need that.”
Notes: Vols are trying for their third straight win against the Bulldogs, which hasn’t happened since 1999 … SEC Nation, the league’s traveling pregame show, will be in Knoxville for the game. It’s the 11th appearance for the Vols on the show and fifth from Knoxville … Tennessee’s last win over a Top 10 opponent was against Georgia in 2006. The No. 13 Vols beat the No. 10 Bulldogs 51-33 in Athens, Georgia … Defensive tackle Shy Tuttle and center lineman Jashon are both expected to play against Georgia … Since 2015 the Vols are 13-3 at home and are riding a five-game home winning streak. Jones is 21-9 at Neyland Stadium … The last Vols-Bulldogs games have been decided by seven points or less. The last six meetings were decided by eight points or less … UT running back John Kelly ranks sixth nationally and first in the SEC with an average of 158 yards per game from scrimmage … Vols punter Trevor Daniel is averaging 47.6 yards per kick and that ranks third in the country … Tennessee has scored in 289 straight games … Next up for the Vols after an open date on Oct. 7 will be a home game against South Carolina on Oct. 14. Georgia will play at Vanderbilt on Oct. 7 … The Vols lead the overall series with the Bulldogs 23-21-2, including a 12-10-1 mark in Knoxville … Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Jim Chaney now directs Georgia’s offense; Georgia’s offensive line coach Sam Pittman was UT’s offensive line coach in 2012 … The are 2-9 against teams with Kirby Smart, the Bulldogs’ coach, on the staff.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)