Tennessee center Brandon Kennedy spoke to the media Tuesday to preview the Florida game this Saturday.
Video: Kennedy on Florida “Up front, they’re pretty stout”
Video: Jackson “I like pressure, so it’s always fun playing away games”
Tennessee defensive back Theo Jackson spoke to the media Tuesday to preview the Florida game this Saturday.
Vol Report: Tennessee Upperclassmen Ready for the Road
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee redshirt senior wide receiver Jauan Jennings knows the Volunteer football team will play in front of an atmosphere that can only be described as “crazy” on Saturday at Noon against No. 9/8 Florida inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
However, the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native also expects he and his teammates to match the Gators’ energy on the field when the game kicks off.
“The level – it’s going to be is crazy,” Jennings said. “We’re going to have lots of energy. We’ve been having lots of energy since that last game I told you all we were going to come out with energy. This whole team’s ready. We’re fired up. Like I said, it’s a road game, going into ‘The Swamp’ – Florida. How else can you put it? It’s an SEC game. We’re going to go out there and give our all and that’s all that matters.”
The Vols are coming off a 45-0 victory over Chattanooga to move to 1-2 on the season, while Florida will welcome UT with a 3-0 mark and a Top 10 ranking. Tennessee hasn’t won in Gainesville since 2003 and Florida has won over 83 percent of its home games since 1990.
“I know that we’re going to have to have a great week of practice in order to prepare for it,” quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said. “The Swamp’s not an easy place to play in. We know that. We’re going to have to do a lot of communicating during practice and we’re going to have to be very vocal with all our different things – whether it’s hand signals or it’s just me calling out different things that I see.”
Guarantano tossed a career-high three touchdowns last weekend, including his fourth of the season to Jennings, who has emerged as the emotional leader for the Vols this season. He has 99 receptions, putting him one catch away from becoming the 22nd Vol with 100 career grabs.
Following Florida, the Vols face two more Top 10 teams in a three-week span with No. 3 Georgia coming to Neyland Stadium on Oct. 5 and No. 2 Alabama hosting the Vols on Oct. 19. Mississippi State, who just dropped out of the polls, travels to Knoxville on Oct. 12.
Jennings and the rest of the Vols are taking each week, one day at a time and one play at a time. As their head coach Jeremy Pruitt preaches, they are not focused on the scoreboard.
“Literally,” Jennings said. “You go out there and you focus on that one play and only that play. You just collectively bring it together and you bring, collectively, a bunch of good players together, and then once you do that, you look at the end of the game and you can say did you give you’re all or not. Then you go from there.”
Road Vols
Tennessee proved it can win a road game against a ranked team under Pruitt last season when the Vols defeated the No. 21-ranked Tigers at Auburn, 30-24 – also a Noon game.
Guarantano (328 passing yards vs. Auburn), Jennings, senior linebacker Daniel Bituli, redshirt senior Darrell Taylor and senior safety Nigel Warrior have all played in big away games in front of hostile crowds.
Bituli and the rest of the Vol veterans plan to tell UT’s younger players to stay calm and trust their coaching.
“Just playing within yourself and just focusing on that,” Bituli said. “We obviously go into the games really prepared with Coach Pruitt and his coaching staff doing a great job. We’ve just got to trust ourselves and know that we can make those plays”
Jennings didn’t play in the Vols’ 26-20 loss in their last trip to Florida in 2017 as he was injured. He did throw a touchdown pass to Joss Dobbs in “The Swamp” as a true freshman in 2015, however. He also caught the go-ahead touchdown against the Gators in the 38-28 win in Neyland Stadium in 2016.
“I’m definitely excited,” Jennings aid. “It’s been a minute since I’ve been in ‘The Swamp’. To go back brings a whole lot of memories back and I just can’t wait to compete.”
Tennessee Player Media Availability Transcription (Sept. 17)
Jauan Jennings, Sr. WR
On if he’s excited to playing at Florida on Saturday:
“Definitely. I’m definitely excited. It’s been a minute since I’ve been in ‘The Swamp’. To go back brings a whole lot of memories back and I just can’t wait to compete.”
On how he would describe his play so far this season:
“I’ve made a few plays, but I just want to get better each week, as the games go. Like I said, BYU week – that was round two. This is round four and I’m just coming out to do the best that I can and to the best of my ability.”
On how Jarrett Guarantano bounced back on Saturday:
“He’s definitely bounced back and he’s ready to go. JG, I tell him every time that he’s the leader of this team. We need him, and he’s been vocalizing his leadership on this team. He’s ready to play. I tell him all the time – I’ve got his back and he’s got mine. So, no worries there.”
On how the team can get through a tough stretch in the schedule:
“One play at a time. Literally. You go out there and you focus on that one play and only that play. You just collectively bring it together and you bring, collectively, a bunch of good players together, and then once you do that, you look at the end of the game and you can say did you give you’re all or not. Then you go from there.”
On how the energy is going into Saturday’s game at ‘The Swamp’:
“It’s going to be crazy. The level it’s going to be is crazy. We’re going to have lots of energy. We’ve been having lots of energy since that last game I told you all we were going to come out with energy. This whole team’s ready. We’re fired up. Like I said, it’s a road game, going into ‘The Swamp’ – Florida. How else can you put it? It’s an SEC game. We’re going to go out there and give our all and that’s all that matters.”
Jarrett Guarantano, R-Jr. QB
On how much the win against Chattanooga will help him moving forward:
“A lot. We were having different meetings last week. We kind of had a different setup and going through the meetings and going through different things last week – it actually helped me last week.”
On the team’s excitement level this week:
“It’s very high. I know that we’re going to have to have a great week of practice in order to prepare for it. The Swamp’s not an easy place to play in. We know that. We’re going to have to do a lot of communicating during practice and we’re going to have to be very vocal with all our different things – whether it’s hand signals or it’s just me calling out different things that I see.”
On playing with a rotating offensive line each week:
“I knew that it was going to be like this going into the season. It’s really not my call. I trust and believe in Coach Chaney and Coach Friend. I think they’re always going to put out the best five.”
On how the different setup for meeting helped him last week:
“We tried to dig deep into each other’s minds – myself and Coach Chaney. I think that we did a good job with it. It was very effective. Every single play, we had a thought process through it and we went through it. I think that it helped me a lot and it also helped him get into my mind.”
Daniel Bituli, Sr. LB
On the importance of discipline when facing the Florida offense:
“It’s really important. We’ve got to come in and watch some film as much as we can. We know Coach (Dan) Mullen has a history with Coach Pruitt. They’ve been going at it for a couple of years. We’ve got to listen to Coach Pruitt this week on the things that we get during the game. We’ve just got to prepare and gain that confidence that we need.”
On what he tells the younger players when going into an SEC road game:
“Just staying calm and just using your attributes to go out there and make some plays. With me being in there, I’ll be able to handle setting the front and making all these adjustments. So, just playing within yourself and just focusing on that. We obviously go into the games really prepared with Coach Pruitt and his coaching staff doing a great job. We’ve just got to trust ourselves and know that we can make those plays”
On what makes Darrell Taylor go off in big games:
“He’s a real competitive guy. He goes hard each and every day. He’s one of those guys that, even if we don’t have an assigned workout, he’s in there in the workout room doing a quick pump because he obviously takes care of his body. He just wants to go out there and make some plays for the team as much as he can. We all see that on Saturdays.”
On much pride he takes in getting the defense set up:
“A lot of pride. We’re the engine of the defense. We’ve got to get everything set up, so just getting the front set up as fast as possible so we can read the whole offensive formation is really important to us and we take pride in that.”
On how much easier it is to communicate on the road:
“It’s really good. With it being quiet on third downs, we can communicate better than we can in Neyland Stadium when it’s really rocking. Coach Pruitt can make some adjustments on the sideline and we can hear him. So, just being able to have that quietness to go out there on defense is really good and we really don’t mind it.”
Theo Jackson, Jr. DB
On the importance of forcing five turnovers against Chattanooga:
“Every week Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt harps on getting turnovers. Since the first two games, when we only came up with one, he really emphasized that we, against Chattanooga, needed to get more turnovers. He challenged us to get five and we got five. So, this week with conference play starting, we really need to get more turnovers to create better situations for ourselves.”
On having Daniel Bituli back:
“It’s always good to have a veteran player back. It created some comfort up front for the players, and it was just good to have him back.”
On his message to young guys playing conference games for the first time:
“I would say take care of your body and get into film as much as possible, because any little mistake can cause a big play or something to go against you.”
On preparing to play against the speed of Florida:
“Every guy is fast. On every other team, they have some fast guys, but with Florida everybody has decent or good speed, so we just have to play faster and harder against them.”
Brandon Kennedy, R-Sr. OL
On what makes Florida’s pass rush effective:
“Well, I think it’s important that we just have to prepare for everything in the game as far as our run and pass.”
On what stands out about Florida’s defense:
“Obviously, up front they’re pretty stout, they have a good defense, and I think they’re fundamentally sound.”
On what kind of statement the offensive line could make against Florida:
“I think it’s very exciting starting SEC play. Every game that we play in the SEC is a big game, so I’m just excited.”
On how the offensive line has improved from the first game until now
“I think just not making the little mistakes as far as communication is where we improved at the most.”
UT Athletics
Rhett Akins Wins Inaugural ACM Songwriter of the Decade Award
The Academy of Country Music announce the addition of seven new ACM Decade Awards: Song of the Decade, Album of the Decade, Artist-Songwriter of the Decade, Breakout Artist of the Decade, Single of the Decade, Songwriter of the Decade and Music Event of the Decade.
The ACM Songwriter of the Decade has been awarded to Rhett Akins.
The ACM Songwriter of the Decade Award recognizes a songwriter whose creative works have impacted country music over the decade, including body of work at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, creative integrity, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
Rhett won the ACM Songwriter of the Year Award in 2017 and was nominated in the same category in 2011 and 2013. Additionally, Rhett received his first-ever ACM nomination in 1997 for ACM Top New Male Vocalist category. Rhett has written 30 No.1 singles, including “Boys ’Round Here” (Blake Shelton), “Hey Girl” (Billy Currington), “Dirt on My Boots” (Jon Pardi), “Life Changes” (Thomas Rhett), “Mind Reader” (Dustin Lynch), “Don’t Get Me Started” (Rhett Akins) and more.
Previously announce, the ACM Song of the Decade was awarded to Miranda Lambert and songwriters Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin for “The House That Built Me.” The tune earned Miranda her first No. 1 single in 2010. In addition, Jason Aldean was named ACM Artist of the Decade in April.
The remaining Decade Awards will be announced in the coming weeks.
photo by O\’Connor, AFF-USA.com
Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Kane Brown & Dan + Shay Named 2019 CMT Artists of the Year
CMT announced its 2019 Artists of the Year: Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Thomas Rhett.
The artists will be honored on Oct. 16 at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center in a televised special, CMT Artists of the Year. In addition to paying tribute to the honorees with live performances from other artists—including those from outside the country genre—the 90-minute TV special will also feature a live-streamed performance from Carrie’s Cry Pretty 360 Tour in Cleveland, Ohio.
Additional awards, performers and special guests will be announced soon.
This year’s celebration will mark the fifth time Carrie has been honored with a CMT Artist of the Year award since its inception in 2010. Luke, Kane and Dan + Shay are first-time honorees, while Thomas Rhett is being recognized for the second time.
photos by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
Garth Brooks Dishes How His “Dive Bar” Duet With Blake Shelton Came Together: “I Called Him Up”
Garth Brooks and Blake Shelton have a Top 20 hit on their hands with their new duet, “Dive Bar,” which is currently No. 19 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart after 13 weeks. Penned by Garth, Mitch Rossell and Bryan Kennedy, “Dive Bar” will be featured on Garth’s upcoming album, FUN.
If you were wondering how two of country music’s biggest stars ended up joining forces for the duet, it was a simple phone call. As Garth tells Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown, he was inspired to make the call after watching Blake’s performance of “God’s Country” during the ACM Awards in April.
“I saw him on the ACMs—he was doing ‘God’s Country,’ his current single,” says Garth to Kix. “And I just saw it in his face. It was like, ‘Wow.’ . . . Every entertainer, if you’ll listen to what you’re saying and if it still gets you, that’s a statement to the song, it’s a statement to how you’re treating the song. And something got [Blake], you could see it in his face when he was singing ‘God’s Country,’ so I called him up afterwards just to say, ‘Hey, man. I was just real impressed. That was cool. Would you ever think about doing a duet?’ And it wasn’t, ‘Let me think on it.’ It was, ‘Hell yeah, I’d like to do a duet,’ so we picked ‘Dive Bar,’ and it was fun.”
Watch Garth’s full interview with Kix below.
photos by NCD
Warrior Named to PFF College National Team of the Week
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior defensive back Nigel Warrior earned a spot on the PFF College National and SEC Defensive Team of the Week after his performance in Tennessee’s 45-0 win over Chattanooga last Saturday.
The College Park, Georgia native was stout in coverage all afternoon and intercepted the only pass sent his direction, nearly returning it for a touchdown. It was the second-career interception for the preseason All-SEC third team selection.
Warrior’s pick set up set up UT’s third touchdown of the game, a 12-yard pass from Jarrett Guarantano to Jauan Jennings that put the Vols ahead 21-0 midway through the first quarter. Warrior also added a pair of tackles in the shutout victory, Tennessee’s second under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The entire PFF College Offensive and Defensive National Teams of the Week can be seen HERE.
The Vols hit the road for the first time this season as they travel down to Gainesville this Saturday to open SEC play in “The Swamp” against the ninth-ranked Florida Gators at noon ET on ESPN.
UT Athletics
Charley Pride to Be Honored With Inaugural “Crossroads of American Music Award”
After more than 50 years as a recording artist, Mississippi native Charley Pride can add another feather to the cap of his Hall of Fame career as he will be the recipient of the inaugural Grammy Museum Mississippi’s Crossroads of American Music Award.
The award honors an artist who has made significant musical contributions “influenced by the creativity born in the cradle of American music.” Charley will appear at the Grammy Museum Mississippi’s 2019 Gala to accept the award on Nov. 1.
“I’m honored to be the first recipient of this award from the Grammy Museum Mississippi,” said Charley. “And thankful to the many great American music artists before me that helped to pave the way for my success. I applaud the Museum for celebrating those artists and championing the importance of American music.”
Charley, a three-time Grammy winner, is considered country music’s first African-American superstar. He signed to RCA Victor in 1967 and earned a string of No. 1 hits, including “All I Have to Offer You (Is Me),” “(I’m So) Afraid of Losing You Again,” “Kiss an Angel Good Mornin’,” “Amazing Love” and many more.
Charley won the CMA’s Entertainer of the Year award in 1971 and Top Male Vocalist in 1971 and 1972. Charley became the Grand Ole Opry’s first African-American member in 1993. He received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 for outstanding contributions of artistic significance to the field of recording.
Congrats, Charley.
photo by NCD
Watch Lauren Alaina Dance the Cha-Cha to “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” on “Dancing With the Stars” Debut
Lauren Alaina made her debut on Dancing With the Stars on Sept. 16 as she danced the cha-cha to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” with partner Gleb Savchenko.
The dancing tandem scored 19 out of 30 points from judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli, with Carrie Ann remarking that the couple had “style.”
Lauren’s score from Week 1 (19 points) and Week 2 will be combined with Week 2 fan voting to determine the first elimination. Dancing With the Stars also features Hannah Brown, Karamo Brown, Mary Wilson, Lamar Odom, James Van Der Beek, Ally Brooke, Kate Flannery, Sean Spicer, Kel Mitchell, Sailor Brinkley-Cook and Ray Lewis.
Over the past 27 seasons of DWTS, a number of country artists haves taken their talents to the dance floor, including Sara Evans, Billy Ray Cyrus, Chuck Wicks, Kellie Pickler, Jana Kramer and more.
Watch Lauren and Gleb’s cha-cha below.
photo by Curtis Hilbun, AFF-USA.com
VOL REPORT: Tennessee Travels to “The Swamp” for First Road Trip in the Fall
Knoxville, Tenn. –After three straight non-conference games at Neyland Stadium to kick off the 2019 season, the Tennessee football team began preparation for its first road game and first Southeastern Conference matchup of the fall.
Tennessee travels to No. 9/8 Florida on Saturday for a Noon ET kick inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville. The Gators have won seven straight games dating back to the end of last season under second-year head coach Dan Mullen.
Florida has an experienced offense and impressive defense that leads the nation in sacks (16), while allowing only 13.7 points per game. Florida is coming off a 29-21 win over Kentucky where the Gators rallied to score 19 fourth-quarter points behind backup quarterback Kyle Trask, who replaced an injured Feleipe Franks.
“When you look at Florida this week, there’s a lot of familiarity with the coaching staff there,” Pruitt said. “I’ve coached against Dan (Mullen) for a long time and I’m very familiar with (Defensive Coordinator) Todd Grantham. (Linebackers Coach) Christian Robinson was a GA for us at Georgia. If you look at them, they’re very well-coached. To start with, offensively, they are replacing some guys up front, but they’re doing a really nice job. They probably lost their quarterback this past week, but the backup has come in there and done a really fine job, which would probably be expected from a guy who’s been in the program for a while, a lot of maturity. These guys have really good skill players from tight ends, to running backs, to wide receivers.”
UT enters its SEC East slate looking for the Vols’ first win over Florida in the Jeremy Pruitt era. Last week against Chattanooga, the Vols had four interceptions en route to a 45-0 win at Neyland.
“We got a good win and got five turnovers (Saturday), which was very important,” Pruitt said.
“We didn’t turn the ball over, which was probably the difference in the game. We created some opportunities in special teams. Those guys have done a really nice job of running the football against us and created some explosive plays there.”
With three of the Vols’ next four matchups against teams currently ranked in the AP Top-10, Pruitt’s plan for such a daunting task is to take it one week at a time.
“You just have to worry about the team that you’re playing,” Pruitt said. “You’re not playing all four of them at one time. We’re playing Florida this week. We’ll focus on Florida and then whoever is after that.”
The Vols will look to several freshmen to make plays in their first away game. Pruitt expects the young guys to stay disciplined in their first road test.
“It’s about execution,” Pruitt said. “Knowing what to do, how to do it, and why it’s important to do it that way, getting prepared throughout the week. You create the right habits during the week, and to me it’s fun going on the road. I like going on the road. You find out who you are. Everybody is against you. You see a little bit about your character. It’ll be good for us.”
Bituli Makes Return
The Vols active tackles leader Daniel Bituli made his season debut on Saturday against the Mocs after battling a knee injury at the end of Fall Camp. The senior collected a pair of tackles, a quarterback hit and a pass breakup.
Pruitt noted that Bituli’s expanded time in the program helped him ease back into action and run the defense.
“Daniel (Bituli) is guy that we have a lot of time invested in him, starting with last spring, two springs now, two fall camps, so you know when you come into a program and you spend that much time with guys to develop to get them ready to play and then they can’t play, there’s a difference,” Pruitt said. “Will Ignont doesn’t really play the money position, but he hadn’t played money for us, that’s why we moved Jeremy Banks over to create some more depth, but it’s obvious that he has some experience there playing, whether it was with us or before us. The game slows down a little bit and probably takes a little bit of pressure off the other guys as far as making calls and adjustments.”
Special Teams Shine
The Vols have been dominant in the special-teams phase through the first three weeks of the season.
Placekicker Brent Cimaglia has made all eight of his field-goal attempts this season to tie for the national lead and extend his streak to 10 consecutive field goals made, dating back to last fall. Paxton Brookshas kicked off 18 times, with 17 resulting in touchbacks. Brandon Johnson recovered a Tyler Byrd blocked punt in UT’s 45-0 win over Chattanooga, with Johnson returning it 24 yards for a touchdown. It marked the first time the Vols have returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Marquill Osbornedid so against ETSU on Sept. 8, 2018.
Additionally, the Vols rank first in the SEC in punt return average (23.67) and fourth in kick return average (25.0) behind veteran returners Marquez Callaway and Ty Chandler. Tennessee also ranks second in the league in net punting average (49.3), third in punt return defense (1.00 yards allowed per return) and is the only team in the SEC that has not allowed any kick return yardage.
“Brent (Cimaglia) has done a nice job on field goals,” Pruitt said. “Riley (Lovingood) snapping and Joe (Doyle) holding, those three together have done a really nice job. Paxton (Brooks), except for kicking it out of bounds the other day, has had a touchback on every kick. Joe has punted every time except for one, Paxton punted one the other day. The guys have executed very well there, and we have to continue to do that because the guys back there receiving the balls are more and more capable of putting points on the scoreboard.”
UT Athletics
Country News
Beyoncé Wins First Emmy Award For ‘Beyoncé Bowl,’ Up Against Husband Jay-Z In Another Category
Luke Bryan Tricks Fans At His Massachusetts Show By Teasing A Tom Brady Appearance
Weather
- Forecast
- Currents
- Planner
