Carrie Underwood released her first-ever Christmas album, My Gift, on Sept. 25.
The 11-song album features a combination of beloved traditional favorites, such as “O Holy Night,” “Silent Night” and “Away in the Manger,” as well as original material, including “Sweet Baby Jesus” and “Let There Be Peace.”
Composed in the mid-1800s by Adolphe Adam and John Sullivan Dwight, “O Holy Night” is a holiday staple that has been recorded by a number of A-list artists, including Mariah Carey, John Berry, Josh Groban, Martina McBride and more.
Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt spoke with the media Wednesday night to discuss prep for the home opener Saturday against the Missouri Tigers. Kickoff is at Noon ET.
“When you look at this Missouri team, really came away impressed, especially with what Coach (Eliah) Drinkwitz and his staff have done without spring ball. Probably not your usual summer and fall camp. The way they put it together in the last game, I know the game didn’t turn out the way they wanted, but just watching them play, the way they play, the toughness they played with. They never quit. The physicality. Very well coached. I’m sure they’re just like us from Week 1 to Week 2, they want to make as much improvement as they possibly can. So, we will definitely need to play a complete game to have a shot at this game. It’s a challenge to our players in trying to create the right habits fundamentally in all three phases. It’s something we’ve tried to address over the last four days here since the first game.”
On if the secondary group will have everyone available and his expectations…
“You know we had three guys that were out for most of our preparation last week; we’ve got two of them back, so that will be a positive in having Jaylen (McCollough) and Warren Burrell back. It gets guys used to where their playing some of the same spots. Until you play in live settings, which Tank (McCollough) got to do and Warren did a little bit last week, got to be in tackling space, got to play the ball, got to be able to play man-to-man, got to be able to make calls as they give you different formations and stuff. I’m sure these guys, like I hope the rest of the secondary does, I hope we continue to work hard and improve. And as the game goes Saturday, we get better as the game goes.”
On the depth of the team…
“We got a lot of guys that we think can contribute. There’s some of the guys like John Mincey and Omari Thomas that only maybe played a couple of snaps – they need to play more snaps. Darel Middleton, hopefully, will get a chance to play in this game. But, we need to play a lot of guys. At the outside backer position, we need to do the same thing.”
On the depth at the running back position…
“We’ve got some wide receivers that we feel are kind of like running backs. Velus Jones is a guy that returns kicks and carried a couple of rocket sweeps the other night. Jimmy Holiday is kind of that way. I would like to see us play Jabari (Small) and Tee (Hodge) a little bit. Tee’s getting back healthy and Jabari’s had a really good camp. So, we’re going to need more than two running backs as the season goes, so we’re going to need to get those guys some touches.”
On changing the receiver rotation…
“Well, we’ve had three more practice dates. It has been really good for the freshmen to continue to grow and develop together. They’re going to continue to work hard and have a better understanding and as the season goes, they’ll really control their roll. How they practice and how they prepare, that’s really how it is with all positions. I think there are some guys there that have the ability to help us and they have to work hard to do that.”
“He’s a guy that came to our camp, had a chance to see him work out and see how he responds to coaching. He had a really good senior year at a really good program. He’s a good kid, good student. Doing the right thing is important to him. He’s a guy that comes to work every single day. The way he goes about his business; he’s going to continue to improve and get better.”
On the challenges that Missouri’s presents…
“To start with their defense, eliminating them from creating negative plays for us. We don’t need negative plays (and) we don’t need to get behind the sticks. We need to be in manageable third downs. We obviously have nowhere to go but up when it comes to third down. Being able to run the football, especially in the second half, was a challenge for Alabama last week. They’ve done an outstanding job of doing that. They’ve always played tight coverage. When you look at them on offense, coach (Eliah) Drinkwitz, he’s very creative. He mixes in a little bit of option out of the gun with counter and gap schemes. They spread the ball around, they stretch you defensively horizontally and vertically. Maintaining our gaps and assignments and finding a way to create negative plays for them. Getting some turnovers, holding them to field goals in the red area. Special teams, they’ve got good specialists, kickers and returners. It will be a tremendous challenge for us, but it is something that we are looking forward to. We are grateful to have an opportunity to play.”
On Missouri QB Shawn Robinson…
“I think he was 19 of 25 throwing the football. They had some pretty good things going for him in the first half. They had a couple of negative plays that got them behind the sticks and if it weren’t for them, they would have scored some touchdowns on those drives. I thought they were efficient offensively and I think Shawn is a guy that can extend plays. He looks like he has good arm strength. Keeping him in the pocket and control him running the football on the perimeter is going to be tough.”
On what Cade Mays could potentially bring to the offensive line…
“Cade has experience in a tough league. He’s familiar with our offense. Unless you’ve played in this league a bunch of years, you’re not going to duplicate it in practice. He’s a guy that has been through the wars a little bit. He’s a smart guy that can play multiple positions. He can play guard, tackle, center, tight end. We’ve repped him all the way through camp with the twos at different positions just in case it did happen we would be ready.”
On how far back they have gone back to scout Eliah Drinkwitz’s offense…
“During the offseason we always find different teams to study just to see how they do things. Teams that have had success whether it’s offense, defense, special teams. A couple of years ago we studied a little bit of what some of the things Eliah was doing offensively because he was having a lot of success. You go back to North Carolina State. I mean that’s as far as we went back.”
“I really think that was Alontae’s best game he’s played since he’s been at Tennessee. It’s not surprising. He works hard, comes to practice every day, approaches everything the way you should. He don’t take any days off, puts a lot of work into prep, so he’s got to continue to do that (and) create some consistency and habits. We’re going to need him to play like that again.”
On the situation at long snapper and how much work goes into special teams at practice…
“It consists of about a third of our practice every time we go out there. There’s nothing to figure out for me. Will Albright is going to go out there and snap again. He’s a guy that I believe in. He made a mistake. I made a lot more mistakes Saturday than he did, I can assure you. He’s going to go out there and he’s going to do a good job and he’s going to be a great player for us. We’ll continue to go the way we have been with him and (Matthew) Salansky and let them swap in and out.”
“I think in kick returning it’s about decision making. There’s some kicks that based off the height, where they’re located on the field that it’s probably not wise to return them, so you got to be patient and kind of let the game or the kicks come to you and make sure you make the right decisions back there. Ball security is a premium. He’s got a lot of experience doing it. It was his first time in our league this past week (and) I thought he did a really nice job and he needs to continue to do that.”
On the reasoning for wanting to get freshmen running backs Tee Hodge and Jabari Small some playing time…
“I think these guys had really good camps and I think they have kind of earned the right to play some. I think we need more than two backs, obviously, probably need four or five or six really in this league. Another guy, Len’Neth Whitehead, he started taking reps on the scout team this week, so that’s good to see. Hopefully, as we kind of go over the next couple of weeks he can get used to competing again. He’s had a long time off, so he’s going to need couple of weeks to kind of build himself back up to give us another guy.”
The #FreeCadeMays hashtag is no longer needed. The Southeastern Conference announced Tuesday night that several players seeking transfers within the conference would be granted immediate eligibility due solely to the unique circumstances of 2020. That means Georgia transfer Cade Mays is immediately eligible to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. That was confirmed by UT Athletics to us tonight.
KNOXVILLE, TN – SEPTEMBER 21, 2020 – Offensive lineman Cade Mays #68 of the Tennessee Volunteers during practice on Haslam Field in Knoxville, TN. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
CMT announced its first round of performers for the 2020 CMT Music Awards on Oct. 21: Ashley McBryde, Dan + Shay, Kane Brown, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan and Maren Morris.
The fan-voted CMT Awards hand out annual awards in a number of categories, including Video of the Year, Collaborative Video of the Year, Breakthrough Video of the Year and more. The show will air on CMT, with a six-network simulcast across MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop and TV Land.
The Top 5 Video of the Year finalists will be revealed on Oct. 12, with extended voting continuing through Oct. 16 to determine the winner in that category.
The show will celebrate country music’s biggest stars with outdoor performances in and around Music City. Tune in to CMT, MTV, MTV2, Logo, Paramount Network, Pop or TV Land on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. CT.
Nominations: 2020 CMT Music Awards
Video of the Year Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced on 10/12, with final voting held until 10/16 and announced in-show.
Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
Keith Urban – “Polaroid”
Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
Little Big Town – “Sugar Coat”
Luke Combs – “Beer Never Broke My Heart”
Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”
Old Dominion – “Some People Do”
Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
Tanya Tucker – “Bring My Flowers Now”
The Chicks -“Gaslighter”
Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”
Female Video of the Year Best video by a female artist; awarded to the artist
Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
Carrie Underwood – “Drinking Alone”
Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
Kelsea Ballerini – “homecoming queen?”
Maren Morris – “The Bones”
Miranda Lambert – “Bluebird”
Male Video of the Year Best video by a male artist; awarded to the artist
Jason Aldean – “Got What I Got”
Luke Bryan – “One Margarita”
Luke Combs – “Even Though I’m Leaving”
Morgan Wallen – “Chasin’ You (Dream Video)”
Sam Hunt – “Hard To Forget”
Thomas Rhett – “Remember You Young”
Group Video of the Year Best video by a group; awarded to the artists
Lady A – “Champagne Night”
Little Big Town – “Wine, Beer, Whiskey”
Midland – “Cheatin’ Songs (Live From the Palomino)”
Old Dominion – “One Man Band”
The Chicks – “Gaslighter”
The Highwomen – “Crowded Table”
Duo Video of the Year Best video by a duo; awarded to the artists
Brothers Osborne – “All Night (Studio Performance)”
Dan + Shay – “I Should Probably Go To Bed”
Florida Georgia Line – “Blessings”
LOCASH – “One Big Country Song”
Maddie & Tae – “Die From A Broken Heart”
Breakthrough Video of the Year Best video from an artist’s major breakthrough album; awarded to the artist (male, female or group/duo)
Blanco Brown – “The Git Up”
Caylee Hammack – “Family Tree”
Gabby Barrett – “I Hope”
Ingrid Andress – “More Hearts Than Mine”
Riley Green – “I Wish Grandpas Never Died”
Travis Denning – “After a Few”
Collaborative Video of the Year Best video from a collaboration; awarded to the artists
Blake Shelton with Gwen Stefani – “Nobody But You”
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice – “I Hope You’re Happy Now”
Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber – “10,000 Hours”
Kane Brown featuring Nelly – “Cool Again”
Marshmello and Kane Brown – “One Thing Right”
Thomas Rhett featuring Jon Pardi – “Beer Can’t Fix”
CMT Performance of the Year Musical performance on a television show, series or variety special on CMT; awarded to the artist (individual, group or duo)
CMT Artists of the Year: Ashley McBryde – “One Night Standards”
CMT Crossroads: Brooks & Dunn and Luke Combs – “Brand New Man”
CMT Artists of the Year: Chris Young – “Drowning”
CMT Crossroads: Halsey and Kelsea Ballerini – “Graveyard”
CMT Artists of the Year: Sam Hunt – “Fancy”
CMT Crossroads: Sheryl Crow and Chris Stapleton – “Tell Me When It’s Over”
The Grand Ole Opry will celebrate its 95th anniversary with a number of shows in October featuring Dierks Bentley, Little Big Town, Carly Pearce, Vince Gill, Clint Black, Lauren Alaina, Josh Turner, Brandy Clark, Chris Janson and more.
Oct. 3: Dierks Bentley, Terri Clark, Vince Gill, Lorrie Morgan
Oct. 10:Carly Pearce, Jeannie Seely, Josh Turner and more
Oct. 17: Bill Anderson, Brandy Clark, Chris Janson and more
Oct. 24 Opry Goes Pink: Lauren Alaina, Little Big Town, Victoria Shaw and more
Oct. 31: Clint Black, Steve Wariner
The Grand Ole Opry will welcome patrons back to its iconic venue on Oct. 3. The Grand Ole Opry has aired without an audience present since March 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The in-venue audience will be capped at 500 guests. Tickets will first be made available to those who had previously held tickets for October shows. Tickets are sold out for the Oct. 3 show. Tickets for the Oct. 10–31 shows will go on sale on Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. CT.
The one-hour shows will air live on Circle Television at 7 p.m. CT. The shows will also stream live on Circle’s YouTube.
A number of stars have helped keep the Opry’s Saturday night shows rolling along through the pandemic, including Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Darius Rucker, Clint Black, Luke Bryan, Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Luke Combs, Dustin Lynch, Craig Morgan, Brad Paisley, Blake Shelton, Ricky Skaggs, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood and more.
Dolly Parton will drop her new holiday album, A Holly Dolly Christmas, on Oct. 2. The new release will be Dolly’s first holiday album since 1990’s Home for Christmas.
The 12-song collection features several holiday standards, including “Mary, Did You Know,” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” “Holly Jolly Christmas” and more, as well as six original tunes that Dolly penned. The album also features duets with some of Dolly’s friends, including Michael Bublé, Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley Cyrus, Jimmy Fallon and Willie Nelson, plus a special song with her brother, Randy Parton.
“I am so excited to announce my new Christmas album, A Holly Dolly Christmas,” says Dolly. “I have recorded several Christmas classics like ‘Holly Jolly Christmas,’ as well as some new material that I hope might become Christmas classics. I’ve recorded five duets with five very special artists as you can see. I figured since everybody probably wouldn’t get to celebrate Christmas as usual this year, I wanted to be creative instead of sitting around at the house this summer. So I put on my mask, gloves and practiced social distancing, as well as all of the wonderful musicians and singers, and we proceeded to put together what I think is some of the best work that I’ve ever done. Kent Wells produced the album. As you know, Kent has been my friend, band leader and producer for many years. He’s outdone himself on this one. I’m just hoping that you’re gonna love it as much as we loved putting it together. So enjoy, and Merry Christmas!”
In the lead up to the album’s release, Dolly has shared three tracks—“Mary, Did You Know?” “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” and Christmas on the Square”—which you can listen to below.
A Holly Dolly Christmas
1. “Holly Jolly Christmas”
2. “Christmas Is” feat. Miley Cyrus
3. “Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas” with Michael Bublé
4. “Christmas On The Square”
5. “Circle Of Love”
6. “All I Want For Christmas Is You” with Jimmy Fallon
7. “Comin’ Home For Christmas”
8. “Christmas Where We Are” feat. Billy Ray Cyrus
9. “Pretty Paper” with Willie Nelson
10. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”
11. “You Are My Christmas” feat. Randy Parton
12. “Mary, Did You Know?”
Tennessee escaped South Carolina with a road SEC win after a three-week delay to the start of conference play.
Coach Jeremy Pruitt will take it.
It was certainly better than losing as a 26-point favorite at home to Georgia State or getting blown out by West Virginia.
Don’t say it was an ugly win, or you’ll hear from Jarrett Guarantano.
It was resourceful.
Not pretty. Not proficient. Not prodigious.
But resourceful.
Here are three Green Flags (ready to go) and three Red Flags (stop doing that) as the Vols prepare for their home opener at noon Saturday against Missouri, an 11-point underdog.
Three Green Flags:
The pass rush was much better than anticipated, especially without Darrell Taylor’s 8 ½ sacks from last season. Deandre Johnson had 2 ½ sacks, Kivon Bennett added a ½. UT totaled four sacks, four quarterback hurries and nine tackles for loss. You’d take those totals against Missouri.
Veteran receivers stepped up. Pruitt said he signed the best collection of freshmen receivers in the country. But none made a catch against South Carolina. Veteran Josh Palmer had six catches for 85 yards, Brandon Johnson averaged over 24.3 yards on three catches (including a spectacular one-handed grab on UT’s second series) and senior USC transfer Velus Jones Jr. had five grabs. They accounted for 13 of Guarantano’s 19 completions.
Tennessee had five completions of at least 20 yards, four of at least 30. Those are the type splash plays typically needed in the SEC. The eventually game-winner was a 32-yard strike to Palmer. Eric Gray went 31 yards on a dump-off to set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Johnson had the 30-yard one-handed catch and a 33-yarder. Palmer had a 20-yard reception. Stretching the field vertically not only helps the underneath pass game but the run game.
Three Red Flags:
South Carolina’s best offensive player, by far, is receiver Shi Smith, Last year, he caught 11 passes for 156 yards against Tennessee. The No. 1 emphasis in your defensive game plan is to stop Smith. Yet, Tennessee put true freshman Doneiko Slaughter at star and matched him against Smith. It was a mismatch. Smith had 10 catches for 140 yards. Due to missed practices, Jaylen McCullough didn’t start, so UT moved its best corner, Bryce Thompson, to safety because he understands the concepts. If he understands the concepts, then put him at star and line him up against Smith. Start somebody else, anybody else, at safety. But don’t let Carolina’s best player have his way against a true freshman. That wasn’t Slaughter’s fault. That was the coaches’ fault.
Converting 1-of-11 on third down usually gets you beat, especially in a close game. The lone conversion came on Johnson’s one-handed grab. Guarantano was 1-of-7 passing on third down, with most of those throws sailing high. Two failures came late in the game, so you can discard not making it on 3rd-and-27 and when you take a knee on the final play. But the others were troublesome. Three times, UT had third-and-3 or less and didn’t convert. Five other times, it was third-and-6 or more. UT needs to do a better job avoiding third-and-long and Guarantano needs to do a better job hitting his targets.
Behind what is supposed to be one of the top offensive lines in the SEC, UT rushed for only 10 yards in the first half. To be fair, Guarantano lost 12 on sacks. Still, the running backs had just 22 yards on eight carries. On the first drive of the third quarter, UT went 74 yards for a score, 64 coming on the ground. Clearly, UT put a greater emphasis on the run game in the second half. But this line wasn’t dominant or even, at times, decent. The Vols will face several SEC defensive fronts better than South Carolina’s. To be fair, the unit was hit hard by Covid-19, causing many players to miss practice. But against the cream of the SEC crop, the line must play at a higher level.
Honorable mention: Tennessee had two possessions in Carolina territory, one that started at midfield and one at UT’s 47 – and didn’t score. Tennessee had trouble taking advantage of prime field position last year. That has carried over. Whether it’s play calling or quarterback play or simply execution, that needs to be fixed.
John and TJ Osborne of Brothers Osborne released a new video for their current single, “All Night.”
Directed by frequent collaborators Wes Edwards and Ryan Silver, the creative new clip features a guy running out of ways to entertain himself at home until the Brothers send him a couple of Covid-approved guests in the form of puppets. Of course, a dance party ensues.
“We wanted to do a performance video as that’s not something we’ve really done, but we wanted to do it in our own style,” says John. “Wes and Ryan always push the boat out in the most unpredictable ways and this video is no exception.”
“All Night” is the lead single to Brothers Osborne’s upcoming third studio album, Skeletons, which drops on Oct. 9.
John and TJ Osborne had a hand in writing all 12 tracks on Skeletons, including “All Night,” which is currently No. 30 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart after 19 weeks.
Carrie Underwood released her first-ever Christmas album, My Gift, on Sept. 25.
The 11-song album features a combination of beloved traditional favorites, such as “Mary, Did You Know?” “Silent Night” and “Away in the Manger,” as well as original material, including “Sweet Baby Jesus” and “Let There Be Peace.”
Composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr, “Silent Night” is a holiday staple that has been recorded by a number of A-list artists, including Bing Crosby, Julie Andrews, Simon & Garfunkel, Mariah Carey and more.
![Carrie Underwood Shines on New Rendition of “O Holy Night” [Listen]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2020/10/01085107/Carrie-Underwood-CH.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
