Tennessee Vols morning report: Cade Mays, Brandon Kennedy speak
Offensive linemen speaking leads our Tennessee Vols news for Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020.
We’re halfway though what has undoubtedly been a miserable week for the Tennessee Vols football team, and with the Alabama Crimson Tide up next, all signs point to things getting more miserable before they get better. More preparations for that game are the stories of the day.
Our morning update on Rocky Top deals with UT getting for this week’s game and also two prominent members of UT’s offensive line speaking up on the state of the program. Both had some interesting things to say.
Beyond football though, other Tennessee Vols sports actually have good news. We have national and conference recognition of a cross country player to cover and a major improvement in the standings at a tournament by the women’s golf program. Let’s start with football, though.
UT takes practice field Tuesday – Ryan Callahan, GoVols247
After a horrendous loss to the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, the Tennessee Vols football team was back on the practice field Tuesday preparing for the Alabama Crimson Tide. At 2-2, they worked in full pads.
"Saturday’s game at Neyland Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. It will be televised nationally on CBS."
Cade Mays, Brandon Kennedy speak – Austin Price, VolQuest.com
As they returned to the practice field, Tennessee football sixth-year senior center Brandon Kennedy and junior offensive lineman Cade Mays both spoke with the media Tuesday. This was Mays’ first public interview since transferring to UT from the Georgia Bulldogs. Here’s a bit of what he said about preparing for Alabama as an underdog.
"“I don’t really think much of about underdog, who’s supposed to win, who’s not supposed to win. You know, it’s the SEC, anybody can win, week in and week out, and it’s a competitive league, so, you know, everybody’s got to show up to play, so, being an underdog doesn’t really concern me. You know, we’re going to go to work this week and make things happen.”"
Kennedy discussed the Alabama defense and the inconsistent play of the line the past two weeks. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“Well, I have to say it’s been a rollercoaster. It’s kind of been up and down. But the thing we’re trying to focus on this week, we’re just trying to figure out, you know, what, what do we need to do to be successful and kind of help this team and just kind of focus on our job, what we can do.”"
Cross country star earns multiple awards – UTSports
Coming off an elite performance at the UAB Blazer Classic, Tennessee Lady Vols junior Katie Thronson earned multiple awards on Tuesday. Thronson was named SEC Women’s Runner of the Week and USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.
"The Blazer Classic featured a loaded field of competition that included defending SEC and NCAA champion Arkansas, along with 2019 NCAA qualifiers Florida State and Ole Miss. Thronson’s time of 20:13.15 was the fastest women’s 6K in the country last week, and her fastest since clocking in at 19:51.23 at the 2018 SEC Championships."
Women’s golf shoots up to second at tournament – Golfstat.com
Thanks in large part to junior Mikayla Bardwell shooting 8-under par and freshman Vanessa Gilly shooting 3-under par, the Tennessee Lady Vols golf team shot up from sixth to second place on the second round of The Ally at Old Waverly. Wednesday marks the final day of the tournament, with UT entering at 6-under par and two strokes out of first place.