Feb. 13 (Fri) 4:30 PM ET Nicholls State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 14 (Sat) 4 PM ET Nicholls State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 15 (Sun) 1 PM ET Nicholls State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 17 (Tue) 4 PM ET UNC Asheville Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 20 (Fri) 4:30 PM ET Kent State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 21 (Sat) 4 PM ET Kent State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 22 (Sun) 1 PM ET Kent State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 24 (Tue) 4 PM ET Bellarmine Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) Feb. 27 (Fri) 4 PM ET UCLA Arlington, Texas (Globe Life Field) Feb. 28 (Sat) 12 PM ET Arizona State Arlington, Texas (Globe Life Field) March 1 (Sun) 11:30 AM ET Virginia Tech Arlington, Texas (Globe Life Field) March 3 (Tue) 4 PM ET ETSU Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 4 (Wed) 4 PM ET Oakland Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 6 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET Wright State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 7 (Sat) 6 PM ET Wright State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 8 (Sun) 1 PM ET Wright State Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 10 (Tue) 6 PM ET Tennessee Tech Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 13 (Fri) 6 PM ET Georgia Athens, Ga.  March 14 (Sat) 2 PM ET Georgia Athens, Ga.  March 15 (Sun) 1 PM ET Georgia Athens, Ga.  March 17 (Tue) 6 PM ET Eastern Kentucky Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 20 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET Missouri Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 21 (Sat) 6 PM ET Missouri Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 22 (Sun) 1 PM ET Missouri Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 24 (Tue) 6 PM ET USC Upstate Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) March 27 (Fri) TBD Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn.  March 28 (Sat) TBD Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn.  March 29 (Sun) TBD Vanderbilt Nashville, Tenn.  March 31 (Tue) 6 PM ET Austin Peay Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 3 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET LSU Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 4 (Sat) 6 PM ET LSU Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 5 (Sun) 1 PM ET LSU Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 7 (Tue) 6 PM ET Northern Kentucky Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 10 (Fri) TBD Mississippi State Starkville, Miss.  April 11 (Sat) TBD Mississippi State Starkville, Miss.  April 12 (Sun) TBD Mississippi State Starkville, Miss.  April 14 (Tue) 6 PM ET UNC Asheville Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 17 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET Ole Miss Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 18 (Sat) 6 PM ET Ole Miss Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 19 (Sun) 1 PM ET Ole Miss Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 21 (Tue) 6 PM ET Lipscomb Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 23 (Thu) TBD Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 24 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 25 (Sat) 1 PM ET Alabama Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) April 28 (Tue) 6 PM ET West Georgia Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 1 (Fri) TBD Kentucky Lexington, Ky.  May 2 (Sat) TBD Kentucky Lexington, Ky.  May 3 (Sun) TBD Kentucky Lexington, Ky.  May 5 (Tue) 6 PM ET Presbyterian Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 8 (Fri) 6:30 PM ET Texas Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 9 (Sat) 6 PM ET Texas Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 10 (Sun) 1 PM ET Texas Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 12 (Tue) 5 PM ET Belmont Knoxville, Tenn. (Lindsey Nelson Stadium) May 14 (Thu) TBD Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Okla. (Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark) May 15 (Fri) TBD Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Okla. (Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark) May 16 (Sat) TBD Oklahoma Oklahoma City, Okla. (Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark) May 19 (Tue) TBD SEC Tournament Hoover, Ala. (Hoover Met Stadium)

The Tennessee Volunteers are in the middle of a bye-week, after last weekend’s loss to Oklahoma.

The playoffs are out of the picture, but there is still plenty of work left to do. The Vols will use this week to work on getting some guys healthy as they prepare for New Mexico State on November 15.

It will be interesting to see if there are any changes for the New Mexico State in terms of players. Will the Vols decide to go a bit younger and work in some younger guys as a way to jumpstart some guys who may battle for playing time and/or a starting position next season.

Josh Heupel met with reporters earlier today to discuss a few things as the team prepares to move forward.

Advertisement

Josh Heupel’s Opening Statement

“How’s everybody doing? Uh, good work today. Um, got another day tomorrow and then some of the coaches will hit the ground recruiting this week. Big focuses again on us during the bye and how we get better. So, open it up,” Heupel said.

Balancing Act

“Yeah, I think wherever your feet are and what’s important at that moment is what you got to be doing. So, uh the development of our current players, our preparation of the opponent that we’re playing, you know, for me, at times the projection of the following year in all departments you’re looking at. So, it’s a combination of all those things. December has changed a little bit on the calendar as well. That gives you a little bit more time potentially in December as well,” Heupel said.

Rotating Young Guys

“Guys that prove that they’re ready to play and play at a really high level, championship level. They earn the right to play and compete and that’s ongoing throughout the course of this season. These guys have worked really hard, disappointed in the results Saturday and a couple other during the course of the year, for sure. But man, it’s constant and consistent growth from everybody,” Heupel explained.

Click HERE to watch and listen to everything Tennessee Football head coach Josh Heupel said during his Wednesday media availability during the bye-week.

Follow Our Social Media Pages and YouTube

• Follow us on X HERE
• Follow us on Facebook HERE
• Follow us on Instagram HERE
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel HERE

Advertisement

Follow Our Staff:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Tennessee is providing $5 million in emergency funding to food banks as the government shutdown continues to block federal food assistance for low-income families across the state.

The funding comes from TennCare reserve funds and will go to Second Harvest Food Bank, which will distribute the money to food banks statewide based on the number of SNAP recipients in each community.

“It’s an initial response to an immediate need,” Gov. Bill Lee said.

The emergency measure comes as food pantries report overwhelming demand. The Well’s food pantry in Spring Hill served as many families in one hour as they typically see in an entire day.

“It’s hard to see hungry families, senior citizens who have no other alternatives except to wait in the long line at a food pantry,” said Shelly Sassen, CEO of The Well.

SNAP benefits, the federal program that helps low-income families buy groceries, stopped during the shutdown, creating a food emergency across Tennessee.

“They ought to open the government now,” Gov. Lee said.

Even if the Trump administration follows a judge’s order to unlock emergency funds that could provide at least half the normal SNAP amount, Gov. Lee warns the process won’t be immediate.

“But if they release partial funding, the complexity of loading cards with a different formula than before is going to be difficult,” Gov. Lee explained.

The state’s emergency funding represents “the sort of most streamlined way to get dollars to people out, even in rural areas,” Gov. Lee added.

Food pantry volunteers describe the emotional toll of seeing increased need firsthand.

“We’re telling some folks to come back later in the day,” said one volunteer at The Well.

“When you’re here looking people in the eyes and see that they are hungry, that they need some help. That’s what really hits,” another volunteer said.

You are invited to make monetary donations, but Second Harvest Food Bank would also greatly appreciate food donations. Here is a list of suggested items:

• Peanut Butter
• Canned Meat (Chicken or Tuna)
• Canned Vegetables
• Canned Fruit
• Canned Meals (Entree or Soup)
• Pasta
• Pasta Sauce
• Cereal
• Rice
• Beans (Canned or Dry)

You can drop off food donations at the following locations:

• Second Harvest Nashville — 331 Great Circle Road Nashville, TN
• Second Harvest Symrna — 1958 Almaville Road Smyrna, TN
• Second Harvest Camden — 69 Benton Industrial Road Camden, TN
• Any Middle Tennessee Kroger location

You can find your nearest Kroger location by clicking here.

Are you someone being affected by not receiving SNAP benefits? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@Newschannel5.com