Vols Ready For Opener
photo by UT Athletics
After an offseason of anticipation, game week has finally arrived for the 2024 Tennessee Volunteers football team as it prepares to host in-state foe Chattanooga on Saturday afternoon inside Neyland Stadium.
"Talking season is over, and we get to go play ball," head coach Josh Heupel said to open his Monday press conference. "Looking forward to seeing all of our fans inside of the stadium. It's been a long time."
The 15th-ranked Vols will look to improve to 4-0 in season openers under Heupel when they square off against the Mocs on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Chattanooga opens the year ranked No. 8 in the FCS Coaches Poll after returning 14 starters and 47 letterwinners from a team that advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs in 2023.
"Facing a Chattanooga team that's a really good opponent, preseason ranked top 10 in their division," Heupel said when asked about the Mocs. "They return a lot of really good players.
"(They have a) veteran quarterback that has played at a really high level. Smart with the football. They have playmakers on the outside. For us offensively looking at them, they have explosive playmakers up front, and we have to do a really good job handling the line of scrimmage."
UT players Andre Turrentine, Javontez Spraggins and Squirrel White also met with the media on Monday afternoon and voiced their excitement about this weekend's season opener.
Turrentine, who showed major growth towards the end of last year and throughout the offseason, talked about becoming more comfortable within the program and taking on a leadership role within the Vols' revamped secondary.
"In this past year I feel like I've grown tremendously as a leader," Turrentine said. "I feel like I already have that instilled in me to be a leader but just understanding that it's not only on the field that I have to lead these guys, I have to leave these guys off the field.
"So, just getting these guys together, building a relationship off the field. Whether that's going out to eat on the weekends and just on a normal weekday getting together and watching film and hanging out. Just building that aspect of trust in the relationship and everything on the field has taken care of itself."
"The Volunteer State" Smokey Grey Uniforms Set to Debut on Saturday
Saturday's contest will also mark the debut of the newest edition of Tennessee's Smokey Grey uniforms. "The Volunteer State" uniform, an ode to the state and Tennessee's status as the flagship university, is the second concept of the new Smokey Grey series.