Unselfishness helping talented Vols succeed as a team

Tennessee is as deep as it has been on either side of the football during the Josh Heupel era, and it has shown as much through two weeks of play. While the No.7 Vols certainly boast plenty of star power, the unselfishness of the team as a whole has been a key factor in its success across the board.

During Saturday night’s contest, Will Brooks changed the course of the game of the game with a pick-six that gave the Vols a two touchdown lead late in the first half. Following the contest, when he was talking with the media, multiple teammates stopped by to show their support by cheering on “Willy B” and letting him know they saw him.

The comradery toward the walk-on defensive back is just one example of how much this team cares for one another. Inside of the building, it is something the Vols head coach has certainly paid attention to.

“At the end of the day it comes from your leadership inside your position rooms,” Heupel said about where this comes from within his team during Monday’s press conference. “Guys, being selfless and knowing that it is important to celebrate the guys around you, you pour into them. When new guys come into the building and those guys showing them what it looks like to be a Volunteer and what it looks like to be a player inside of this building. They help them grow as players, out on the practice field you see players coaching up their teammates as much as you see coaches doing it. It’s awesome to see the energy, comradery, chemistry, and excitement that they have for the other guys in the position room.”

Following Heupel’s appearance on Monday, three veterans for the Vols also stepped up to the podium, and they each had an answer to a question that only reiterated how selfless Tennessee is currently operating as a whole.

While many standout players could see it as a sacrifice or be upset by seeing a limited number of reps due to a large rotation, Bryson Eason believes it is a blessing for the Vols and allows them to wear teams down throughout the course of the game.

“I don’t feel like it’s a sacrifice at all because a lot of guys in that room could not be in that room and be playing at other places and thriving,” Eason said. “It’s really a blessing for us to have that many guys that can play on the elite level. Like I said earlier, there’s no drop off. Me personally, I feel like it’s a great thing because you don’t want to be out there dog-tired. We’re human. We’re football players, we’re going to get tired in the trenches, so I think it’s a great thing that we can split reps and still execute and still be elite and create havoc in the backfield with a lot of guys.”

The N.C. State 3-3-5 defense presented a different challenge for Tennessee’s vertical passing attack, and the Vols identified the ability to sustain success in the run game early on. The fact the Wolfpack routinely dropped seven and eight guys into coverage and limited downfield opportunities was not frustrating for veteran Squirrel White, though.

“It’s not frustrating at all,” White said of having to adjust his role. “We have a deep running back room back there. If we need to block, we’ll block. We’ll be physical. When our time comes, our time will come, and we’ll execute.”

Tennessee used 12-personnel many times on Saturday night, and while Miles Kitselman and Holden Staes both caught a touchdown pass, their biggest successes came in the run game. This was something they both embraced coming into the contest, as they knew it would play a crucial factor in the Vols leaving Charlotte with a win.

“Particularly me and (Miles Kitselman), going into that game we knew we would be heavily used in the run game and just create seams for our backs,” Staes said on Monday afternoon. “We took pride in that going into the game and just wanted to be the guys that opened up the run and allowed us to throw the ball downfield as a result of that. So, going in that was the game plan. I feel like we did it really well. I was happy with the way I played, just throwing my hat in there and being physical and helping the team ultimately get a win.”

The veteran-laden Vols will look to build on this style of play and improve to 3-0 on Saturday inside of Neyland Stadium against Kent State before traveling to Oklahoma the following week for an SEC Showdown.