Tennessee
No. 7 Tennessee has fresh examples to help focus on Kent State with Oklahoma up next
(AP) — The No. 7 Tennessee Volunteers have several recent examples to keep them from taking Kent State for granted Saturday night.
Just look at Notre Dame and Penn State last week.
Then-No. 5 Notre Dame lost on its own field to Northern Illinois. No. 8 Penn State narrowly escaped Bowling Green.
In other words, the Mid-American Conference can be dangerous for Power Four teams.
Tennessee (2-0) can’t get caught looking ahead to next week’s Southeastern Conference opener and showdown at No. 15 Oklahoma, especially not after making the biggest leap in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. The Golden Flashes (0-2) are a young team that is hungry for success.
“Go back and look at the scores from across America,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “(There are) examples of guys that didn’t prepare, didn’t practice right and didn’t have the right competitive spirit to go take advantage of their next opportunity.”
Kent State coach Kenni Burns made sure his players knew about the MAC performance, even if his Golden Flashes are coming off a loss to St. Francis of the Football Championship Subdivision.
“Tough times make tough people,” Burns said. “We’re going through some tough times right now. ‘That’s the same (Northern Illinois) team that you took to the wire last year in the last game of the season.’ It does give hope to our team.”
Tennessee has scored 130 points in its first two games and routed then-No. 24 N.C. State 51-10 in Charlotte. The Vols also have been dominant defensively since shutting out Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
“I feel like we’ve been one of the better … defensive teams in the country,” Vols defensive lineman Bryson Eason said.
Speaking of defense
Starting in that shutout of Iowa, Tennessee has gone 12 quarters without yielding an offensive touchdown. N.C. State’s only TD was an interception return. During 12 quarters, the Vols have yielded just 2.28 yards per rushing attempt and 181 total yards per game. They have allowed just 6 of 41 third-down attempts (14.6 %) while collecting 26 tackles for loss and seven takeaways.
Young line
Kent State brought in 23 transfers for this season, but Burns has made molding young players a priority even if the Golden Flashes take some lumps along the way. Their offensive line features a true freshman in Elijah Williams at center and a pair of second-year players in Dusty Morrell and Chris Farrell at guard. Kent State has allowed six sacks and generated just 54.5 yards of rushing offense in two games.
Tennessee’s defense has four sacks and is allowing only 56.5 rushing yards per game.
Healing Vols
Running back Cam Seldon, defensive back Jakobe Thomas and linebacker Kalib Perry all missed the N.C. State game with injuries. Heupel anticipates all of them being available against Kent State.
Hey Nico
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week in consecutive weeks. His latest nod came after he threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns against the Wolf Pack. However, he threw two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.
Heupel likes how Iamaleava responded to his mistakes as a young quarterback.
“His body language, demeanor and composure leads you to believe that he’s going to play the next play independently,” the coach said.
Tennessee
Vols Make Splash Hire With Jim Knowles | VFL Kevin Burnett Talks Tennessee Football | The RTI Low Down | Rocky Top Insider
On this week’s episode of The RTI Low Down, Bob Baskerville and Chris Low are diving into a huge week for the Tennessee Football program.
The guys start the show by discussing the Vols’ big move to fire Tim Banks and the splash hire in acquiring defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
Bob and Chris are then joined by VFL and SEC Legend Kevin Burnett to talk about his time on Rocky Top, his thoughts on playing under defensive coordinators, Josh Heupel’s current team, and more.
The guys close down the show by breaking down Tennessee’s 2026 schedule, Vol Hoops’ tough test on the hardwood this week, and much more. Download and subscribe TODAY!
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The RTI Low-Down is brought to you by the Tate Insurance Group. Find out more information at www.tateinsurancegroup.com
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More from RTI: Tennessee Football 2025 Transfer Tracker – Who has Announced They’re Entering the Portal So Far
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YouTube –
0:00 Intro
8:30 Tennessee Fires Tim Banks, Hires Jim Knowles
21:25 VFL Kevin Burnett Talks Vol Football!
43:20 UT 2026 Schedule
50:17 Tennessee Basketball Faces Huge Test on Tuesday
1:01:06 Close
Tracking the opt outs for both Tennessee and Illinois before the Music City Bowl on December 30 (5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ESPN) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville:
Tennessee
Linebacker Arion Carter: Carter over the last seasons had 96 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 31 career games. He had a team-high 76 tackles this season, with 6.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks while appearing in 10 games. He missed two games and was limited against Oklahoma in November while dealing with turf toe injuries. Carter had 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 13 games last season and 17 tackles and 1.0 tackles for loss in eight games as a freshman in 2023.
Wide Receiver Chris Brazzell II: He a breakout senior season in his second year with the Vols, catching 62 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns. He had 19 catches for 333 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, after transferring from Tulane. In 15 games at Tulane he caught 45 passes for 722 yards and five touchdowns. Brazzell is ranked No. 7 at wide receiver on Mel Kiper Jr.’s NFL Draft Big Board. He’s ranked No. 34 overall on ESPN’s list of the best available prospects in the draft.
Cornerback Jermod McCoy: Did not play this season after tearing his ACL during offseason training in January. He was a star last season with 44 tackles, nine passes defended and four interceptions. He had 31 tackles and two interceptions in 12 games as a freshman at Oregon State before transferring to Tennessee.
Illinois
Offensive Tackle J.C. Davis: Bret Bielema said the Illinois starting left tackle is opting out of the Music City Bowl. He was an All-Big Ten First Team pick by the league coaches this season and the No. 3 left tackle this season according to Pro Football Focus grades. He had made 49 straight starts before opting out of the bowl game.
EDGE Gabe Jacas: The Illinois outside linebacker declared for the NFL Draft on Friday night. He led the Big Ten this season with 11.0 sacks. He had 13.5 tackles for loss and 43 total tackles in 12 games this season. He finishes second in Illinois program history for career sacks, with 27.0, trailing only Simeon Rice. Jacas had 74 tackles, 8.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season, after combining for 8.0 sacks and 9.0 tackles for loss in his first two seasons at Illinois.
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