Tennessee football is counting down the days until it opens the season against Syracuse on Saturday in Atlanta. Before the Vols meet the Orange at noon ET on ABC in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, UT running back coach DeRail Sims met with the media.
Sims was asked about DeSean Bishop, rotations, ball security, pass protection and more. Here’s everything he said.
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On how he anticipates he will rotate backs in the opener
“It’ll depend on how things are going. We haven’t really discussed that yet. As a staff, we kind of let this week play itself out in terms of the competition in the room. And then once we get into the flow of the game on Saturday, it’ll really take care of itself.”
On what he wants to learn about his room in the opener
“Number one, how we go out and play clean football. Taking care of the football in terms of being the quarterback and pass protection, taking care of the football when we got the ball in our hands, but being able to see us execute and play against a different level of competition that we gotta get ready to go against on Saturday.”
On having a group that you can play multiple backs in
“It’s really good. We talk about it all the time, the ball finds energy in terms of having that positive energy. Those guys are thick as thieves in terms of being together in that room, which is really good. And they do a phenomenal job of feeding off each other. One guy is making a big play, the next guy that comes in is trying to do the exact same thing and end up learning from each other. You know, I don’t have to sit over there and try to go grab them when they make a mistake because one of them is already going to be able to correct them on that. So that piece is really good.”
On what stands out about Syracuse’s defense
“Physical, aggressive, fast. I mean, when you turn the tape on and you watch them defensively, the thing that jumps out to me is they’re chasing the football. It looks like pursuit drill every time that they’re on defense and they’re pretty aggressive. They play with a mentality that matches what their head coach’s mentality is, as well, and their defensive coordinator. So it’s a fast team. They want to be physical, want to be aggressive, they want to get you behind the sticks as much as possible and then being able to let their personality show through how they play.”
On if he’s confident DeSean Bishop could follow in the footsteps of Dylan Sampson
“His preparation, number one, in terms of how he prepares himself, in terms of in the training room, in the meeting room, and then out there on the field and in his practice habits. I mean, he practices every day like he’s getting ready to play the game. So he does a really good job from that standpoint.”
On how prepared the backs are for contact in a game
“They’re prepared. You know, we’ve had a physical camp from that standpoint in terms of our group work that we’ve done, and then, of course, our team periods that we’ve done. So from the physicality standpoint, they’ll be ready.
On how he assesses the pass blocking and ball security in camp
“Both of them have gotten better. Pass protection, we’ve done a good job in terms of our eye discipline, in terms of where our eyes need to start at. The physicality piece of it that comes along with it. Understanding, man, there’s going to be times that you may have to block a defensive lineman and I can’t shy away from that. So they’ve done a good job with that. Ball security, we preach on that every single time they touch the ball. They hear me hollering about that. That piece of it has gotten better, too. But it’s a mentality, as well. That’s one of the program pillars that we always talk about protecting football. So it’s one of those deals that we’re constantly harping on all the time.”
On making sure backs aren’t pressing when they do get their opportunities
“Well, I think the best there that you got is that you’re able to see the flow of the game from the sideline before you’re able to get in the game, and you kind of get a feel for how the defense is playing, the groove of the offense. So when they get in there, understanding, I gotta let the game come to me. So we talk about that a lot is, man, don’t feel like you gotta go in there and make the big play from the first snap that you get in. Allow the game to slow down and come to you. Man, we got to get those dirty yards early on, and then at some point in time, the big play is gonna come to you. So if you allow that to work itself out, good things will happen.”
