Tennessee Vols morning report: Josh Heupel, players talk win over Ball State
And with that, the season is off and running. Happy Friday to all in Big Orange Country who enjoyed the Tennessee Vols football team’s season-opening win Thursday over the Ball State Cardinals. UT put on a show, and it really signifies fall sports being underway.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with more coverage of that win. We’ve got multiple press conferences to bring you, including one with Josh Heupel and another one involving three of the players. They all had some interesting things to say.
Beyond football, there are two other weekend fall sports events happening in cross country and volleyball. We’ll preview both of those events. The fall truly is underway, so let’s go ahead and dive in, starting obviously with the football news.
Josh Heupel discusses Ball State win – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
On the heels of the Tennessee Vols football team’s season-opening 59-10 win over the Ball State Cardinals, head coach Josh Heupel met with the media afterward to discuss his team’s performance. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“It was a great way to kick off the season here, as we get in this journey, Week 1. Really happy with a lot of things — offense, defense, special teams, effort, energy, competing.”"
Hendon Hooker, Jalin Hyatt, Tamarion McDonald talk opener – Austin Price, VolQuest
On the first play from scrimmage against Ball State, Tamarion McDonald intercepted a pass. Hendon Hooker then found Jalin Hyatt for a 23-yard touchdown pass on the very next play. All three spoke with the media Thursday. Hooker talked about using so many receivers from Hyatt to Cedric Tillman to Ramel Keyton to Bru McCoy to Walker Merrill. Here’s a bit of what he said.
"“That’s my thing. I love to spread the ball around and get it into the playmakers’ hands. Tonight, I got a chance to do that and they all made plays.”"
Hyatt said he and McDonald are teammates and that McDonald predicted earlier in the week he’d get an interception while Hyatt got a touchdown. Here’s a bit of what Hyatt said about being able to step into that slot void left by Velus Jones Jr. and how he improved in the offseason.
"“Well, I think everything started changing once I saw the weight on the scale go up. You know, for me that was the biggest thing, I had to gain weight just to be in the SEC. This is a physical conference, and not only that, we had great players here before- Velus Jones, Javonte Payton, just as far as those guys and they lead the weight.”"
McDonald’s interception came on a reverse flea flicker play where Aaron Beasley got the pressure. This is how he described what occurred.
"“I saw the quarterback didn’t hand the ball off, so I knew he was coming back to his right. I kind of baited him a little bit, I didn’t chase the running back. I stayed off a little bit to get him to throw it.”"
Cross Country to open season – UTSports
Friday morning marks the start of the Tennessee Vols and Lady Vols cross country season. Both programs host the Chattanooga Mocs for the Tennessee Cross Country Invitational.
"Entering the 2022 season, the Vols have been picked to finish third in the SEC and are ranked No. 30 in the nation and No. 3 in the South Region by the USTFCCCA. It is the first time the men have been ranked in the preseason poll since 1999.The women come into the new campaign picked to finish tied for sixth in the SEC by the league coaches and sit fourth in the South Region."
Volleyball set for N.C. State Classic – UTSports
After losing two of three last week to open the season, the Tennessee Lady Vols volleyball team heads to Raleigh, N.C. this weekend for the N.C. State Classic. They joined by the Elon Phoenix, Colgate Raiders and obviously the N.C. State Wolfpack.
"The Lady Vols play once on Friday against Elon at 4 p.m. ET and twice on Saturday, starting with Colgate at 11 a.m. before wrapping up the tournament versus NC State at 7 p.m."