With Tennessee entering its second month of the football season, first-year Volunteers coach Josh Heupel has witnessed leaders on both sides of the ball taking more active roles.
When asked Thursday for specific names, Heupel declined, but redshirt junior tight end Jacob Warren would seem to be a nice place to start in terms of strong candidates. The 6-foot-6, 246-pounder out of Farragut High School in Knoxville not only leads the team with 11 receptions through four games but often represents the Vols during news conferences, especially after defeats.
Warren was well-spoken immediately after the 41-34 loss to Pittsburgh on Sept. 11 and again earlier this week on the heels of last Saturday's 38-14 defeat at Florida.
"Your true colors show when adversity hits," Warren said Monday, "and I think we've done a good job of handling the situations we've been put in. We're not turning on each other or pointing fingers or blaming anybody. We accept the fact that whatever happened, happened, and all we can do is move on from it.
"Every week, the game is about us."
Tennessee (2-2, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) continued its preparations Thursday for Saturday's matchup at Missouri (2-2, 0-1), but Heupel did not shed any light afterward about injuries or who will start at quarterback in the noon Eastern game on the SEC Network.
Warren, the son of former Vols offensive tackle James Warren (1992-93), made the SEC's academic honor roll the past three years and graduated in May with a kinesiology degree. He is also a member of Tennessee's leadership council, but those off-field achievements have often outweighed what Warren has accomplished in uniform.
His 11 catches for 92 yards and two touchdowns surpass his seven career receptions for 74 yards entering this season, and Heupel said Thursday that there could be a lot more productivity on the horizon.
"He needs to continue his physical development and lower-body strength in particular," Heupel said. "That's going to help him in the run game and in pass protection. I think he's gaining a ton of understanding in what we're doing and the reason why and behind it.
"He's able to understand what he's seeing on the other side of the ball to where he can anticipate what's going to be happening."
Warren started five of 10 games last season and capped Tennessee's impressive opening drive in its eventual 34-13 loss to Texas A&M in the finale with a 33-yard touchdown catch. His busiest career game occurred against Pitt, when he amassed five receptions for 55 yards and an 8-yard score.
A lot of Warren's former classmates and teammates are playing elsewhere this season, but he didn't see the need to join them in the NCAA transfer portal.
"This is where I want to be," Warren said. "I've got a lot of friends here. My family is here. I've got great teammates here and a great staff here. To see it through and to stay the path was never a big deal for me.
"I knew my time would come eventually."
Third-down success
Getting off the field defensively will be a significant challenge for Tennessee given Missouri's efficient offense headed by redshirt sophomore quarterback Connor Bazelak and senior running back Tyler Badie.
Mizzou has converted 29 of 53 third-down opportunities for a 54.7% success rate. The Tigers rank seventh nationally in that category.
"Some of it has been due to the third-down situations they've been in," Heupel said. "They do a good job of running the football, so you're in manageable situations there. I think their running back is a big part of it, and their ability to use him in the pass game and finding mismatches.
"Their quarterback has played consistent, too, and their protection up front has been pretty solid as well, and when you put all those pieces together, you've got a chance to be highly successful on third downs."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.