For the second time in as many seasons, Tennessee is facing an Atlantic Coast Conference football foe at a neutral site.
There are way more differences than similarities between the two.
The Volunteers opened last year against Virginia inside Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, which was a high-noon mismatch both on the field and in crowd support as Tennessee cruised to a 49-13 win. This Saturday night, the Vols will face North Carolina State at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, with this showdown accompanied by ABC television.
“We’ve got a big football game this week, and it’s a really good opponent we’re playing,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Monday during his weekly news conference. “They play all three phases of the game really well together, and defensively they’ve been really good. It will be a great test for us up front, on the perimeter and at quarterback.”
Tennessee was ranked 15th and the Wolfpack 24th in the Associated Press preseason poll, with this week’s poll set to come out Tuesday morning. Both teams opened against Southern Conference opposition, with the Vols walloping the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga 69-3 on Saturday and with N.C. State struggling with Western Carolina for much of last Thursday night before pulling away for a 38-21 triumph.
Quarterbacking the Wolfpack is sixth-year senior Grayson McCall, who spent his first five seasons at Coastal Carolina. In his N.C. State debut, McCall completed 26 of 40 attempts for 318 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
All three of his scores went to KC Concepcion, the 5-foot-11, 189-pounder from Charlotte who was the 2023 ACC freshman of the year and began this season with nine catches for 121 yards.
“He’s got elite speed and really good hands,” Heupel said. “They do a good job of moving him around and finding space for him to work and operate. He’s strong, he’s explosive, and we’ve got to know where he is throughout the course of the football game.”
The Vols played the Mocs without Rickey Gibson III, but Heupel said the sophomore cornerback will be “ready to roll” this week. Gibson made his starting debut in January’s 35-0 rout of Iowa at the Citrus Bowl.
“Rickey is obviously a super, super talented player,” fifth-year senior safety Will Brooks said Monday. “He’s really dynamic, so we’re excited to have him back.”
The Vols are touchdown favorites this week and were four-touchdown favorites last year against a Virginia team that had canceled the final two contests of its 2022 season following the horrific on-campus shooting that claimed the lives of three Cavaliers players.
Tennessee led last season’s opener 35-3 midway through the third quarter.
“It’s a huge test for us this week, and it’s one we’re excited about,” Heupel said. “We’re traveling a few hours down the road, and I’m looking forward to seeing Vol Nation show up. Everybody faces the same challenge as a competitor.
“You can live in what everybody is talking about last week, but the reality is that you’re only as good as your next performance.”
Tennessee and N.C. State have played three times and only once since World War II. That meeting took place in Atlanta at the former Georgia Dome in 2012, with the Vols prevailing 35-21.
ABC will have its primary broadcast crew of Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe.
“As long as we go out there and handle our business and prepare the right way and not take this game lightly, I feel like we’ll come out with the win,” Tennessee redshirt freshman tight end Ethan Davis said.
Iamaleava honored
Vols redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava and Alabama true freshman receiver Ryan Williams shared Southeastern Conference freshman of the week honors Monday.
Iamaleava completed his first 10 passes against UTC and went 22-of-28 for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He only played in the first half, and his 314 aerial yards set a program record for a half.
“I thought he was extremely accurate and had his eyes in the right spot,” Heupel said Monday. “He did a really good job of hitting windows, and that’s in between defenders and the second level and over/under balls between the second and third level.”
Said Davis: “It’s easy to talk to him, and it’s easy for him to coach me and for me to coach him as far as where I need the ball and where I want the ball.”
Over the middle
Iamaleava had multiple completions over the middle against the Mocs, evoking many of the throws Hendon Hooker performed throughout Tennessee’s 11-2 season two years ago.
“It’s been a part of our offense, but last year we weren’t as efficient in the middle of the field as we wanted to be,” Heupel said. “We had a good start to it this past week, but there are a lot of things within the structure of what we’re doing offensively that we can be better at, too. Guys had the opportunity to watch that with their coaches today.”
Odds and ends
Junior edge rusher James Pearce Jr. only played 10 snaps against the Mocs. … Redshirt freshman Emmanuel Okoye, who began his Tennessee career as a tight end before switching to defensive end, recently suffered a season-ending injury. Okoye has yet to play for the Vols. … Carson Gentle, the freshman from McCallie School, was among 17 defensive linemen who played Saturday.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.