Tennessee looking to ‘reset and reload’ entering final week of spring football
When Josh Heupel met with reporters after Tennessee’s first scrimmage of spring practice, the morning of April 1 inside Neyland Stadium, he praised his defense first and foremost.
“I thought defensively we were relentless,” he said afterward, “played with energy. Did a really nice job, in particular the (first-team) defense. I thought they had a really good day.”
To put it simply, he said defense got off the field.
“I thought they tackled well,” Heupel said. “They were disruptive at the line of scrimmage. Good pressure on the quarterback. And third-down defense was really good.
“They found a way to get off the field; alignment, assignment, execution. Energy from the guys on the field, but also the guys on the sideline. That was very noticeable during the scrimmage.”
Tennessee entering final week of spring football
On Thursday, after the team’s second scrimmage inside the stadium this spring, Heupel was on the other side of the ball while discussing standouts from the workout.
He started in the backfield.
“I thought the running backs as a group did some really positive things,” Heupel said. “Dylan Sampson made some people miss, did a great job pressing double teams. Cam Seldon did a really nice job running the football, good job taking care of it. DeSean Bishop. There were a lot of really good things from that running back room in particular.”
He complimented Tennessee’s offensive line and quarterback play in the scrimmage, too, and later got around to the wide receivers.
Up Next: Orange & White Game, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. ET, Neyland Stadium
But now the Vols enter the final week of spring camp for a grudge match between the offense and defense, culminating in Saturday’s Orange & White Game, set for 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time at Neyland Stadium.
Tennessee had the weekend off before coming back together for a team meeting Sunday night to set the tone for the week ahead.
Or as Heupel put it: “Reload and get ready to get after it Monday morning.”
“At the end of the day you have to reset and reload,” Heupel said on Thursday. “We come back next week, you control. You’ve got to win each rep. You’ve got to win each period. You’ve got to win each day. This has been a great group and their consistency, that’s the mental side of it, in the meeting room, how they’ve been physically and mentally out on the practice field.
“They’ve been awesome. Expect that the back third of spring ball. Next week is a huge week for the development of our program in every phase, at every position, every guy on our roster.”
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