University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley speaks to the press during an event.
KNOXVILLE – It feels like it’s been a long time since Tennessee played a football game.
What Derek Dooley is hoping is that his Volunteers’ progress over the course of the team’s bye week after the loss at Florida 11 days ago shows up when UT finally returns to the field to play Buffalo at Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
“What we want to see is, how did you play the first three and then how you go out and look in game four with an open date,” UT’s second-year coach said. “Obviously we want to see improvement, and we’re not going to expect them to go out and light it up. It’s not going to happen because it takes time, but I’m seeing it in practice, a little more comfort with some things, playing a little faster, some guys playing a little faster, and you just hope over time that it goes.
“Reflect back to last year at this time, our freshmen were all swimming.The receivers were, run a fade route and screw everything else up. It just takes time.”
The Vols have used this time to focus on improving a run game that ranks just 112th nationally. Buffalo’s defense is just eighth in the Mid-American Conference in stopping the run, but the Bulls held Connecticut to 80 yards on 42 carries. Dooley said the Vols will have their “work cut out for us” on Saturday.