There is an understandable excitement shared by Tennessee football players for the upcoming season that starts with next Thursday night's matchup against Bowling Green inside Neyland Stadium.
This season, after all, has the potential to be a true season.
"Every night, I lay in my bed after practice, and I just visualize what it's going to be like," Volunteers sophomore defensive lineman Omari Thomas said earlier this week in a news conference. "I didn't really get a full experience last year, so this will kind of make me feel like a freshman again. I'll be in the stadium with all those fans, and I'll get to run through the Power T. I'll go through the Vol Walk - it will all be new stuff to me.
"I feel like it's going to be a good time."
The Vols held a closed practice Thursday morning and will take Friday off before practicing again Saturday and Sunday.
Tennessee could use some good times after last year's Vols lost seven of their final eight games, with all seven of those losses transpiring by multiple scores. The 3-7 debacle was followed by the firing of coach Jeremy Pruitt and defensive assistants Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer, which resulted from an internal investigation that uncovered NCAA Level I and II violations.
Tennessee Athletics photo / Tennessee senior cornerback Alontae Taylor believes the Volunteers are not about to overlook Bowling Green, which went 0-5 last season and lost by the average score of 45-11.The Vols then sustained more departures through the NCAA transfer portal than any other program nationally, but they have scheduled the perfect opponent for which to turn the page.
Bowling Green was arguably the worst Bowl Subdivision team last season, enduring an 0-5 record by the average score of 45-11. The Falcons were even clobbered 38-3 by Akron, which represents the only win in the 1-17 record compiled there by current Zips and former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Tom Arth.
"Everybody has been talking about Bowling Green," Vols senior cornerback Alontae Taylor said. "The first one is always the most important one every single time no matter who we're playing. Bowling Green is in front of us, and it's a Thursday night game. None of us have played on a Thursday night, and it's in Neyland Stadium where the fans are back."
Taylor even went into full football jargon mode this week when asked to analyze the Falcons, saying: "They're a heavy 12 personnel team (one running back and two tight ends) with a lot of condensed bunches and things like that. They'll try to shrink the game a little bit."
Tennessee is a five-touchdown favorite in the debut of the Josh Heupel era, which could contain sophomore Harrison Bailey as the returning starter at quarterback or could have those keys being handed to a graduate transfer - Hendon Hooker from Virginia Tech or Joe Milton from Michigan.
It's the one chance to make a first impression, and the Vols have been awaiting this moment for months.
"We've been urgent in our preparation," junior safety Jaylen McCullough said, "and we've been honing in on the little stuff that's going to put us in a position to win and be successful not only with Bowling Green but also focusing on us and the stuff we need to accomplish in order to be where we want to be."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.