Tennessee football hasn’t won on the road against Florida since 2003. Every Vols fan is painfully aware of that stat, but do the coaches and players know? If they know, do they even care?
A handful of members of Tennessee’s team were asked exactly that and more about the upcoming game against Florida this week in preparation for the game.
Here’s what they said.
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HC Josh Heupel
On if he addresses the losing streak with the team
“We talked about it today briefly. I showed a video of just the rivalry and great players, great moments, what it takes to go win in this game, ultimately. This is a great game and it’s going to be a great stage. One play doesn’t have anything to do with the next and a previous trip down to Gainesville doesn’t have anything to do with (this one). You’ve got to prepare the right way, you’ve got to practice the right way and you’re going to have to go play extremely well in this one. You look at the losses that they’ve had, particularly here lately, it’s been tight football games against really good football teams at neutral sites or road games. So, just going to take our best all Saturday night.”
LB Coach William Inge
On what stands out about Florida’s offense
“Looking at their offense, I would say probably the one thing that they make you do is they make you defend every area of the field. They do a great job of complementing a lot of the runs with RPOs or RPOs with complimentary runs to be able to match up so that they stress you to have to be in a sense perfect in all of your run fits but also great with your eye discipline. And you can tell they’ve been in every game, maybe outside of maybe one or two where it kind of got away from them. But we have to make sure that we’re at our best when it counts the most.”
LB Jeremiah Telander
On if the streak means anything to him
“It really doesn’t mean anything to me. It’s really a crazy statistic. We’re trying to win every game. We got to win big games on the road. I played down there my freshman year. It’s a great atmosphere, great fans. It’s a great team we’re about to go against and it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
On what he learned about handling Florida’s environment his freshman year
“You got to bring the whole team when you go down to an SEC road game. You’ve got to have a great week of preparation. What is this, Week 10, Week 11 now, whatever it is, regardless, it’s a great team and we have a great team as well. We just got to take advantage of the things throughout the week and prepare the right way like we have been and it’s going to be a great game.”
CB Colton Hood
On the mindset going into a night game in The Swamp
“Go out there and execute. Dominate and do our job. That’s all it really is. We’re not going to make it any bigger than what it is. It’s another game on the schedule, got to go out there and execute and win the game.”
WR Chris Brazzell II
On his mindset heading into the Florida game
“To go win.”
LB Edwin Spillman
On what the linebackers will need to do vs. Florida
“Really more just everybody going out there and execute. Obviously, they have good players and good schemes. Based off of their schedule, it doesn’t seem like they’re a winning program, but they’re still a big-time program, too. So, everybody just going down there and execute and do their job.”
On Florida playing hard still
“It’s an SEC team, SEC opponent. They’re always going to play hard. Everybody just has to continue working, keeping their head down and go out there and grind.”
On if the losing streak means anything to him
“Obviously, yeah, we heard about it. The main focus is just don’t forget about what we need to go out there and do. Just handle business and taking care of our jobs and going out there and execute. That’s the biggest thing. We’re more focused on that rather than just the streak.”
On why this can be the team to snap that streak
“Overall, just the way we’re playing defensively. I feel like our communication has gotten a whole lot better. Coaching has just been over the top great. The past couple of weeks, everybody has been on point, picking it up, stepping up and taking it to that next level.”
OL Sam Pendleton
On if he’s been to The Swamp
“No, I have not.”
On if he looks around for a moment when he goes to iconic places
“I mean, not as much as some other people. I have a routine on game day. I get to where we’re at and the first time I come out is when we warm up. I don’t really come out before that. I like being in there, being able to take my time, get ready in my preparation.”
On the streak, if it’s relevant
“I think it’s definitely something we discuss. It’s something that is on our mind. It’s not necessarily something that we’re rah-rahing around, but it’s something that we want to take advantage of and go down there with something on our mind, a goal in mind for sure.”
