Tennessee preps for final SEC home game
Tennessee’s defense held their 9th straight opponent under 20 points Saturday night in their 28-18 win over Kentucky.
For the Vol defense Saturday is a familiar challenge as Mississippi State comes calling with their up tempo offense led by Jeff Lebby who obviously worked for Josh Heupel.
Tennessee’s defense faces tempo every day in practice so they are familiar with what they will see. At linebacker against the Bulldog’s spread attack that means more snaps for redshirt freshman Jalen Smith. Smith had a career high 9 tackles against Kentucky as he has seen his role grow since the injury to Keenan Pili.
“Just film study. Just locking in on my keys,” Smith said. “Being prepared has really helped – as well as the defensive line staying vertical and keeping me clean all night. I was able to go and make some plays.”
Safety Jakobe Thomas is in the rotation at safety as the Vols are rotation double digits guys in the secondary as the MTSU transfer continues to find his role defensively.
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“They play fast and go with tempo. A lot of offenses now a days move with tempo but they try and push the tempo as fast as they possibly can,” Thomas said. “We will have to communicate well as a defense and home in on our alignments. There’s definitely a lot of similarities and they like their big plays. So, we just have to come in this week, prepare right and make sure he are in our home alignments. Do the right thing and be us.”
Offensively, the Vol tight ends had a big night against Kentucky and have become a mainstay. Tennessee has played a bunch of two tight end sets and against the Wildcats Holden Staes and Miles Kitselman combined for 9 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. Staes had one of his most complete games.
“I think we have all done a great job. Throughout practice last week we grew in confidence with each rep getting the ball in our hands and showing Nico we can be a safe outlet for him whenever he’s in trouble. He can depend on us. I think on Saturday me, Miles, and Ethan did a great job of honing in on the details of each play. When we had our opportunities to make plays that is what we did. We want to continue to keep doing that.”
