Watch: Tennessee running back coach Jerry Mack's Tuesday press conference

Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack met with reporters on Tuesday morning, updating the progress of his position group, looking back at the struggle in the run game at Missouri and previewing Saturday’s game against No. 1 Georgia:

What makes Georgia’s defensive front so hard to run against

“The number one thing that stands out is ability to rotate so many different people at the line of scrimmage, front seven. Just kind of like when you look at their defensive linemen, linebacker, the biggest thing is it’s constant new bodies. As we go through the film, all the film from the year, there’s always a new linebacker, new (defensive) lineman. They also do a really good job of shedding blocks. Those guys do a good job with two-gapping, playing through the defender and making sure they shed and get the ball carrier. So obviously the speed is something that jumps out at you as well. Across the board, all those guys can run. So that’s one of the things that I feel like that just stands out constantly against them.”

Why Tennessee’s run game never got going at Missouri 

“I think the biggest thing was like the first quarter when you look at it, we never really got into the rhythm of the game. I think we had three plays in the entire first quarter, so by the time we got the ball it may have been 11 minutes again in the second quarter. So one thing is we just never able to get true rhythm of the game from the running back position. I do think we have to do, continue to do, a better job of pressing blocks, make sure we’re reading like we should. Once again, it kind of falls into not being able to rhythm, not being able to take some of those hits and see those different techniques and see that different wash of the defensive line that you can normally see throughout the course of the game.”

His message to Tennessee running backs this week 

“The biggest thing that we’re gonna say to the running backs is really just make sure we continue to prepare the way we’re supposed to, don’t let that one game affect the way we finish this season off. We’ve done some really good things this entire season, so we gotta make sure we continue to be adamant about the way we prepare and all those different things. We’re going to make a big emphasis on ball security, another thing we gotta make sure we do. Obviously we fumbled the ball, put one on the ground the other day. We haven’t really done that the entire year, so that’s gonna be another emphasis during practice.”

If he senses any frustration or damaged pride among Tennessee running backs this week

“I really don’t. We’ve had a lot of success here, not just this year, but in the past running the football and that was one game. Like we always tell players, you don’t let one game define exactly what happens to you or who you are. And we didn’t have success for those three hours and some change that we were on the football field the other night. That doesn’t mean we’re still not a really good offense. That doesn’t mean we’re not a really good running back group. The way these guys prepare, the attitude that they approach in the building every day, that’s something that we always take pride in and that’s gonna be no different this week. You gotta put that away, put it in the bank use it for later. Just never forget that situation that happened so it doesn’t happen again. So we’re just gonna reset and refocus this this week.”

What he has seen from Georgia linebackers Raylen Wilson and CJ Allen

“Really physical, like really physical bunch. Not only just those two guys, but with the entire group of linebackers, they’re active, they’re athletic, they do a great job of flying to the football in pursuit. And then when they get there they know how to finish plays. And when you play a team like Georgia, one thing is it’s gonna be tough to get yards after contact because they are so physical, they are so strong. So that’s going to be a great challenge to the guys like Jaylen Wright, Jabari (Small) and Dylan to make sure they have a great pad level, making sure they continue to drive their feet on contact. Those linebackers, they don’t want to give you anything, they’re stingy and we gotta do a great job of matching that intensity.”

The emphasis for Tennessee this week to finish runs against a tough defense

“We talked a lot in the running back room this week about draining everything we can out of running the football, not minimizing plays. That means if a play’s locked locked up for about five yards, we need to be trying to get eight, nine or 10 yards out of it. So it is two or three yards, we need to get four or five. So try to maximize every potential carry. That means in the backfield and also on the perimeter. We’ve done some things in the past here that we throw a ball, pitch the ball to the outside and we gotta make sure we stay out those situations where it’s gonna be third-and-one, third-and-two. We would love for the running back to do a great job of finishing through contact and making sure that we are in first down as opposed to third-and-1.”

Jaylen Wright fumbling at Missouri and not playing as much later in the game

“Well, one thing, we got great confidence in Jaylen. And that one fumble, like I said, he hasn’t fumbled the entire year and it really wasn’t a situation where it was egregious, how he went about fumbling. He was a little bit off balance. He was trying to get to what we call the arm bar, get two hands on the ball and come down with it. And then the second guy came in kind of laid, looks like he put a helmet on it. It’s kind of hard to tell from the coach view on the field, but it wasn’t a situation where he was trying, where he did have really good ball security. He has to do a better job of squeezing the football when he gets in that position. 

“Then the first play of the second head comes out, some miscommunication going on, but he obviously he could’ve caught the ball and he shouldn’t have been on the ground. But I mean, guys learned how to reset and I thought he did a good job. One of the reasons, as the course of the game kind of unfolded, Dylan Sampson kind of got in a rhythm. He had a couple of good runs and in the very back end of the game it was cold. Felt like we were going like we always do go with the hot hand. And that’s the only reason.”

Georgia defense doing a lot of pre-snap movement and the importance of Tennessee’s offense not getting pre-snap penalties 

“A lot of that is on the quarterback position just to make sure he gives the offensive line time to go ahead and ID the fronts like you’re supposed to. So a big part of that is on the quarterback. But at the running back position, we gotta make sure where they do stem, we understand how the fits change a little bit. We gotta understand how the protection rules may change some if they do decide to stem. So really more more about just understanding when we start a drive and also too, when it’s potential clock-stopping, sometimes we gotta make sure that we kind of see the movement and still on alert of our pre-snap keys.”

What Tennessee running back Jabari Small can do to be more productive

“It’s really been situational. Jabari is a really dynamic football player. He hasn’t had some of the explosive runs he’s had in the past and that’s not really because of him being less of a player or any injury or anything like that. It’s just about the opportunity when he gets in the game. For whatever reason, he’s been put in those situations where there a little bit more third-and-1, third-and-2. So obviously it’s those situations you’re going to run the ball in between the tackles a little bit more and just hasn’t been able to kind of pop under some of those explosive runs that he had in the past. But it’s really not anything to do with him per se, really just about the situation that he’s been put into.”

Playing an SEC game at home and Tennessee using the crowd noise to its advantage

“I think anytime we get a chance to play at Neyland Stadium, I think that’s a great opportunity for us. Our crowd does a good job of being loud when opponents are in a third-down position. And they can understand now how to be somewhat quiet when we have the ball to make sure that we can communicate the way we need to. I think our guys really enjoy playing at home. I think that’s an extra energy or extra boost for those guys. We haven’t played an SEC game here in a couple, a couple weeks, so you know, they’re gonna be fired up to come in. I think our pride is gonna be juicy. The players obviously gonna be excited to get back at home.”