Tennessee defensive back Prentiss Waggner and the Vols will open the season against North Carolina State on Friday.KNOXVILLE – The preparation began with a little sneak peek all the way back in the spring.
Yet Tennessee’s Volunteers have been thinking about their next game even longer than that.
They have had their collective minds on Friday night’s opener against North Carolina State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta throughout the offseason.
“The whole summer,” cornerback Prentiss Waggner said Thursday after Tennessee’s last practice, “the only thing we’ve been thinking about was Atlanta.”
With the memory of what happened the last time Tennessee took the field still in the back of their minds, the Vols amped up their summer work and began studying the Wolfpack before going full-bore into game-planning last week. Instead of Western Kentucky, UT-Martin or Montana coming to Neyland Stadium for the opener, Tennessee is facing a experienced team with talent that finished last season strong.