New Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, right, is confident the Vols have lots of good options in their secondary, including Stephen Griffin, center left.SEC players of the week
OFFENSIVE: Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams III, who rushed 27 times for 180 yards in the 34-30 triumph over Ole Miss. He also had a touchdown reception. DEFENSIVE: Vanderbilt linebacker Zach Cunningham, who had a career-best 19 tackles, including a late stop of Isaiah McKenzie on fourth-and-1, and 2.5 tackles for loss against Georgia. SPECIAL TEAMS: Vanderbilt return specialist Darrius Sims, whose 95-yard return to the Georgia 4 on the opening kickoff marked the longest this season by an SEC player. FRESHMAN: Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts, who threw for 143 yards and rushed for 132 and three touchdowns on 12 carries for an offense that rushed for 438 yards. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN: Alabama freshman right tackle Jonah Williams, who graded out at 90 percent and did not allow a sack or a hurry in the 49-10 win at Tennessee. DEFENSIVE LINEMAN: Tennessee defensive end Derek Barnett, who continued his stellar junior season with two tackles for loss and a forced fumble while sacking Hurts. – David Paschall
Kahlil McKenzie (99) plays on the defensive line for Tennessee. The Ohio University Bobcats visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium in a non-conference NCAA football game on Saturday September 17, 2016. KNOXVILLE – The timing for Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop’s turn to visit the Knoxville Quarterback Club’s weekly luncheon Monday probably could not have been much worse.
The injury-ravaged Volunteers allowed Alabama to rush for 438 yards and roll up nearly 600 yards of offense in a 49-10 win in Knoxville on Saturday, but Shoop understandably tried to keep it positive with a couple hundred fans in attendance.
He actually left those fans laughing by ending his 20-minute visit, which included a brief question-and-answer portion, with a jesting jab.
“There’s an official of the week you guys recognize?” Shoop asked before being told the club honors prep players, coaches and officials at its weekly meeting. “I understand in Alabama they do the same thing, and the officials of the week were the guys who reffed our game on Saturday.”
In his opening comments Shoop said the Vols were disappointed but not discouraged by the humbling defeat handed to them by the top-ranked Crimson Tide, and in the 48 hours after the loss he’s been reminding his players what’s at stake for Tennessee in its final five games after the open date.
The stretch, which doesn’t include an opponent with a winning record, begins with a night game at South Carolina – it will be on ESPN, ESPN2 or the SEC Network – on Oct. 29.
Shoop said he’s talked to his players about embracing what he dubbed the “5-2-5 plan,” referencing Tennessee’s 5-0 start followed by losses to Texas A&M and Alabama and intention of winning out.
“I’m one of the most optimistic people you’ll ever meet,” Shoop said. “I always say we never lose, we just learn, and that’s how it is right there. That was a great barometer for us. Our expectations, as well as yours, are to build a championship program and create a championship culture in everything that we do. We found out Saturday we’re not quite there yet.
“We’re going to continue to move forward. We’ve got to get some of our guys healthy. This is a great week for us to have a bye week. I always tell our guys the bye week is not an off week. We need to work. Some of our guys need to get healthy and get in the training room. Some of our younger players need to step up and work on their fundamentals and techniques.
“I promise you’re going to see a team that comes out the second half of the year and has the mindset and the ambition to go 1-0 each week.”
Tennessee will have to do so without defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, whose season appears to be over with the upper-body injury he suffered reaching for an Alabama running back in the first quarter Saturday.
With McKenzie out and Kendal Vickers missing a stretch after hurting his ankle in addition to Danny O’Brien’s dismissal and Alexis Johnson’s unexplained unavailability, the Vols turned to Quay Picou and Kyle Phillips at defensive tackle for large stretches of the second half.
Shoop said those two players got zero repetitions at tackle in practice last week.
“It’s safe to say we’re a pretty banged-up football team,” he said. “I’ve been coaching since 1990 – I’ve been coaching for a long time – and I’ve never seen as many injuries as I’ve seen to a team.”
Tennessee can use its off week to improve the health of many players, develop some younger ones and collectively hit the reset button mentally and physically to prepare for the season’s final stretch.
“To put it all in perspective,” he said, “we lost to two of the top five teams in the country, who are going to beat the heck out of each other this weekend, and we’ve got a chance to win the East and we’ve got a chance to play one of those guys again. I told the team on Friday, we used the example and I showed the Herb Brooks speech from the 1980 Olympic hockey team.
“We talked about (how) great moments are made from great opportunities. Remember, the Russians actually beat the United States Olympic hockey team in an exhibition game a week before the Olympics started and beat them 10-1. That same unit went into the Olympics and beat that team 4-2 when it really counted.
“We take care of our business and those teams take care of their business, we may find us playing against one of those guys somewhere down the line again.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.