Vols Preparing to Face Another Tough Tide Team

    When Butch Jones watches Alabama, he sees another typical Tide team.

"Guess the term that comes into my mind when I watch Alabama on video is impressive. They’re an impressive football team. And having to go on the road and beat two top ten opponents is impressive as well. They have a ton of confidence right now and deservedly so."

    Bama once again leads the SEC in total defense, and they’re allowing only 77-yards rushing a game.

Said Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs-"The stats show what they do on defense. They’re strong up-front and very athletic and explosive on the back-end, and they have very good linebackers."

Added Jones-"They’re more athletic than what they’ve been in the past at linebacker. They do a great job of being able to break and drive on the ball. Then I think moving Eddie Jackson to safety has really helped them from an athleticism stand-point."

    Offensively, the Tide’s Derrick Henry is coming off the best game of his career. The 6’3, 240-pound Henry ran for 236-yards against Texas A&M.

Said linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin-"Just got to know he’s a stronger runner just like Jalen (Hurd) all year. You can’t have any arm tackles. You have to put your pads on him and make him stop his feet. If we do that, we’ll be successful."

    While Alabama is once again a heavy favorite against Tennessee, the Vols are ready for the challenge.

Said safety Brian Randolph-"The biggest change for us is our mentality. We don’t hope to win, we expect to win. Last year we got it within fourteen at one point. We feel like we have to go in there and finish it off this year."

Said Jones-"We’re going to have to play great, mistake free football to get the game to the fourth quarter. Once you get a game to the fourth quarter, as we all know, anything can happen."
  The Tide and Vols kick at 3:30pm Saturday on WDEF News 12.