Tennessee

Five big takeaways from Chicago Bears’ preseason win vs. Tennessee Titans

Published

1 year ago

August 12, 2023

Five big takeaways from Chicago Bears’ preseason win vs. Tennessee Titans

CHICAGO – Quarterback Justin Fields and the Bears’ first-team offense caught everyone’s attention Saturday on two explosive touchdowns.

Receiver DJ Moore and running back Khalil Herbert each caught short passes from Fields and went the distance to the end zone thanks to some well-timed blocking ahead of them. Moore’s touchdown went for 62 yards, while Herbert’s went for 56 yards.

The Bears beat the Titans, 23-17, on Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago.

Other than the explosive plays from Moore and Herbert, here were the big takeaways from Saturday’s preseason action.

Tyrique Stevenson’s energetic debut

Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson tackles Tennessee Titans running back Jonathan Ward for a loss during a preseason game Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago. (Mark Busch – mbusch@shawmedia.co)

Rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson started the game for the first-team defense. He made his presence known quickly with seven tackles, including one tackle for loss, and a pass defended. Stevenson has been battling for a starting spot with fellow rookie Terell Smith. Smith, however, has been dealing with an undisclosed injury and did not play Saturday.

“It’s just the game of football,” Stevenson said. “I went out there with the confidence I always keep. The game pretty much went fast. Had a couple mistakes I have to clean up, but other than that I was out there and pretty much felt comfortable.”

Stevenson showed his physical play style early on. The Bears drafted him with a second-round pick (56th overall) because they like his size and his physical style of play.

“I knew that was coming,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “The reason he’s here is because of that, because of his length and he’s physical. And you saw that today.”

“I knew that was coming. The reason [Tyrique Stevenson is] here is because of that, because of his length and he’s physical. And you saw that today.”
— Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach

Zacch Pickens makes a difference

Chicago Bears defensive tackle Zacch Pickens (left) and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter Sr. listen to a coach during their preseason game against the Tennessee Titans Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at Soldier Field in Chicago. — Bears defensive tackles Zacch Pickens (96) and Gervon Dexter Sr. (98) listen to defensive line coach Travis Smith during a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago. (Mark Busch – mbusch@shawmedia.co)

Rookie defensive tackle Zacch Pickens had a nice day in his preseason debut. In the first quarter, he sacked Titans QB Will Levis on third-and-9. Later, he recovered a fumble after defensive end Terrell Lewis strip-sacked Tennessee QB Malik Willis.

Pickens was a third-round draft pick (64th overall) in April. He and second-round pick Gervon Dexter are expected to be key additions along the defensive line.

Afterward, Pickens made sure to call his mom.

“She was just happy for me,” Pickens said. “Usually she’ll be here because she’s always trying to be at every game and I want her at every game. So whenever she’s not, I call her.”

Velus Jones Jr. muffs another punt

A year after his notable struggles fielding punts, the Bears are giving second-year pro Velus Jones Jr. another shot at the punt returner job. On Saturday, Jones failed to field cleanly either punt sent his way. Both hit the ground. The first one he caught on one bounce and returned for seven yards.

The second one also hit the ground and he again tried to field it on a bounce. This time, the Titans clobbered Jones as soon as he touched the ball, knocking it from his grasp. Titans linebacker Luke Gifford recovered the muffed punt.

“Again, it comes down to fundamentals, it comes down to technique,” Eberflus said. “We’re going to work on that, reading the flight of the ball, getting ourselves in position early and then getting underneath the football and squeezing the ball down on the catch.”

Jones had been doing a good job of catching punts during practice over the last few weeks. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower had previously applauded Jones for improving as a punt catcher. Receivers Tyler Scott and Nsimba Webster also returned punts in the game.

Sack party

Chicago Bears linebacker Trevis Gipson sacks Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis during their preseason game Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, at Soldier Field in Chicago. — Bears defensive end Trevis Gipson sacks Tennessee Titans quarterback Will Levis during a preseason game Saturday at Soldier Field in Chicago. (Mark Busch – mbusch@shawmedia.co)

The Bears defense totaled eight sacks during Saturday’s game. It was a tough day for Willis and Levis, who split quarterbacking duties for Tennessee.

The Bears totaled 20 sacks in 17 regular season games last year. Yes, it was a preseason game, but the defensive line was getting after it Saturday. Eight sacks is extremely promising, especially for a team that wasn’t playing either of its starting defensive ends.

Defensive end Terrell Lewis led the way with two sacks, while Jalen Harris recorded 1.5 sacks. Pickens, Trevis Gipson, Micah Baskerville and Noah Sewell each had one sack, while Travis Bell had half a sack.

“It felt pretty good,” Pickens said of his sack. “It’s been a minute since I did that. It felt pretty good to sack the quarterback.”

Key absences

Several expected starters did not play in the game. The Bears continue to be extra cautious with injuries at this time of year.

The following players did not suit up: safety Jaquan Brisker, receiver Chase Claypool, cornerback Terell Smith, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, linebacker Dylan Cole, offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, right guard Nate Davis, receiver Dante Pettis, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, defensive end DeMarcus Walker, cornerback Josh Blackwell, linebacker DeMarquis Gates and tight end Marcedes Lewis.

Ngakoue and Lewis only just began practicing after signing with the team last week. With Brisker, Edmunds, Ngakoue and Walker out, the Bears were without a good portion of their expected starters on defense. Dominique Robinson and Rasheem Green started in place of Ngakoue and Walker at defensive end. Claypool suffered a hamstring injury earlier this week in practice.

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Tennessee

What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football's loss at Ohio State

Published

7 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

What Nico Iamaleava said after Tennessee football’s loss at Ohio State

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tennessee’s path to the College Football Playoff had been paved with cold-from-behind wins.

On Saturday night at Ohio Stadium, the Vols didn’t have another comeback effort in them.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

Hindered by an uncharacteristic performance from its typically reliable defense and injuries, No. 9 Tennessee fell behind three scores in the first half against No. 8 Ohio State and didn’t have the offense to make up for it, leading to a 42-17 defeat that ended its season.

The Vols (10-3) had been plagued by slow starts through the first half of the season, more often than not able to find enough life to win.

They did it against Florida, Alabama and Vanderbilt in the triumph that clinched their first-ever playoff berth.

But that kind of start proved costly vs. the Buckeyes (11-2), who posted more than 430 yards of total offense and never came close to giving up their lead.

If there was any positive that could have been gleaned from Tennessee’s performance, it was quarterback Nico Iamaleava.

Iamaleava, at times during those stagnant starts looked very much like a freshman quarterback trying to find his footing as a now full-time starter.

In the second half of the season, though Iamaleava was more poised and the Vols’ began flourish on that side of the ball.

Tennessee didn’t flourish in many areas on Saturday. What small doses of momentum they found almost always involved Iamaleava.

He ran the ball 20 times for 47 yards, extending drive and rushing for both of the Vols’ only touchdowns.

Here is everything Iamaleava said about the performance.

On if he expected to run the ball 20 times

“I mean, 20 (carries). No, I did not expect to run that many times. Some shots that were there, and overall as a team we didn’t just execute the whole game plan, so got to be better.”

On what disappointed him most about the performance

“Just started off slow. We were supposed to come in, had a great game plan to come in and fire first, and they hit us in the mouth first. We were just trying to recover that whole game. First half I thought we did a great job of that, and second half coming in I thought we could have played at a way higher level than we did.”

On what team can take away from loss

“I think just use it as motivation. We’ve been putting in work since January to get to this point, and it sucks to go out that way because that’s not who we are. love this team. I love the team we have. Just the way tonight went was not the way we wanted it to go, and we’ll use that as fuel and motivation during this off-season to really hit it.”

On what Tennessee needs to do to beat better teams on the road

“I think that all just comes to executing on the road. Like I said, our coaches gave us a great game plan, and us as players, as the team, we’re the ones out there on the field playing, and we’ve just got to hold ourselves to a higher standard and execute at a higher level.”

On Dylan Sampson and Dont’e Thornton Jr. dealing with injuries, how it effected the game

“Shoot, at the end of the day, man, whoever is out there, whether it’s a freshman or not, we’ve got to be able to execute the same way with those guys or not, and we didn’t do a good job of that tonight.“

On the difference between running an offense at home and on the road

“I would just say there’s a crowd noise that plays a factor in how we play. We can’t play as fast as we want to without tempo, and that’s really the biggest factor was crowd noise.”

On what personnel Tennessee can add to open up the offense

“Obviously in the off-season, me, Coach Joey, and Coach Heup are always have conversations about how we can excel this offense, and it’ll be that in the off-season, too.”

On large contingent of Tennessee fans that were at Ohio Stadium

“I love it. Man, I was so happy to see all the orange in the stands. It sucks the performance we gave out for them, but I hope they get home safe, man. I really appreciate their support.”

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Tennessee

Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee

Published

15 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Ohio State Shows Major Resolve in CFP Win Over Tennessee

The Ohio State Buckeyes’ loss to the Michigan Wolverines now feels like ages ago.

Ohio State went into its first-round College Football Playoff matchup against the Tennessee Volunteers with major question marks.

Will Howard was under fire. The play calling was in the crosshairs. Ryan Day’s job security had become a regular topic of discussion.

But then, the Buckeyes hammered Tennessee by a score of 42-17 to advance to the Rose Bowl for a chance for revenge against the Oregon Ducks.

Ohio State put together arguably its best performance of the season against a very tough Tennessee opponent. The Buckeyes scored 21 points in the first quarter, immediately sending a message to the Volunteers—and the country—that they meant business.

Howard, who looked like a deer in headlights in the regular-season finale against Michigan, stepped up with a significant performance. Yes, there was the red zone interception, but in the end, it was no harm, no foul (he probably shouldn’t do that against Oregon, though).

Jeremiah Smith looked every bit of the phenom we all thought he was heading into 2024. The defense was tremendous. Day? He coached a terrific game.

But the most impressive part of this showing by Ohio State was the resolve that it demonstrated, picking itself up off the mat after a soul-crushing defeat to the Wolverines earlier in the month.

I have to admit: I wasn’t sure if the Buckeyes had this in them. Not after they mustered just 10 points against a far inferior Michigan opponent, a game in which they were physically beaten up.

And considering that Tennessee’s defense was even stingier than Michigan’s this year, I certainly didn’t anticipate that Ohio State would drop 42 points.

Nevertheless, here we are.

A couple of weeks ago, it was beginning to look like the Buckeyes wouldn’t even have a chance against Oregon. Heck, there were some who felt that the Volunteers would beat them.

It wasn’t due to a lack of talent, either. It was more due to the thought that Ohio State lacked an identity and didn’t seem to have the mental fortitude required to win a national championship.

Remember: the Buckeyes also lost to the Ducks earlier in the season as a result of some mental erros and not being able to seal the deal.

So the concerns surrounding Ohio State heading into the College Football Playoff were legitimate.

But the Buckeyes appear to have flipped a switch, and it appears that their tenacity has finally matched their excessive talent.

Now, we’ll see if Ohio State can exact revenge on Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

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Tennessee

Tennessee-Ohio State live updates: How to watch, predictions, odds for CFP game

Published

22 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Tennessee-Ohio State live updates: How to watch, predictions, odds for CFP game

The first round of the College Football Playoff is nearly complete, with the final game of the slate featuring Ohio State vs. Tennessee in “The Shoe.”

Two of the most recognizable brands in college football, Tennessee and Ohio State arrive in the 12-team playoff with at-large bids, falling just short of reaching their respective conference championship games and snatching one of the top four byes in the bracket.

Tennessee will be making its first playoff after going 10-2, which included a win over Alabama that likely is the reason why the Volunteers are in the playoff. No strangers to the playoff, Ohio State arrives with a fan base that isn’t all too thrilled with head coach Ryan Day after losing a fourth consecutive year to Michigan. A national championship is still possible, but the pressure is on for Day to deliver a deep playoff run and possibly save his job. Will the Buckeyes get a much-needed win, or will Tennessee pull off the upset in front of more than 100,000 fans?

It’s the second time Tennessee and Ohio State have faced each other, and the winner of the first-round finale has a tough date ahead of them. The victor will head west to Pasadena to play No. 1 overall seed Oregon in the “Granddaddy of them all,” the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day.

When is the College Football Playoff between Tennessee and Ohio State

The College Football Playoff first-round game between the No. 9-seed Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 8-seed Ohio State Buckeyes kicks off at 8 p.m. ET at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio

How to watch College Football Playoff between Tennessee and Ohio State

The College Football Playoff first-round game between the No. 9-seed Tennessee Volunteers and the No. 8-seed Ohio State Buckeyes will be televised nationally on ABC and ESPN.

Live streaming is also available on Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Catch Tennessee vs. Ohio State with a Fubo subscription which has a free trial

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the favorites to defeat the Tennessee Volunteers in this first-round College Football Playoff game, according to the BetMGM college football odds on Saturday.

Spread: Ohio State (-7)
Moneyline: Ohio State (-275); Tennessee (+220)
Over/under: 46.5

USA TODAY Sports: No. 8 Ohio State over No. 9 Tennessee

Paul Myerberg writes: “This is the premier pairing of the opening round and a nice barometer of how playoff games could unfold between the best of the best in the Big Ten and SEC. Given two evenly matched teams with similar traits, two factors will make the difference in Ohio State’s favor: homefield advantage and a more credible offense. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard has more experience and better skill options. But another big game from Volunteers signal caller Nico Iamaleava could easily shift this game in the opposite direction.”

ESPN: Ohio State has 65% chance to win

According to ESPN’s Matchup Predictor, the Ohio State Buckeyes have a 65.5% chance to beat the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

College Football Network: Ohio State 27, Tennessee 23

Will Helms writes: “To be clear, I think Ohio State’s offense is capable of moving the ball down the field through the air, but Tennessee’s defensive line could feast against a reshuffled Buckeyes O-line. But I also trust (offensive coordinator Chip) Kelly to find ways to scheme open elite playmakers like Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. If this becomes a close game, Ohio State’s experience can make a difference. However, I like the Volunteers as one of the best bets of the opening round. The Buckeyes’ experience and depth should help them close this out, but take the Volunteers to cover in a close one that ticks over.”

Sports Illustrated: Tennessee Volunteers

James Parks writes: “Tennessee +7.5 … We’re taking the Vols to win straight-up on the road given their outright advantage on a very dominant defensive front, which should overpower a Buckeyes offensive line down two key starters to injury, while Dylan Sampson and Tennessee’s gifted ground game do the rest.”

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