No. 6 Tennessee is gearing up to host No. 3 Alabama this weekend in Knoxville.
In the week leading up to the game, some of Tennessee’s players have spoken about Alabama both as a whole and regarding individual players in press conferences.
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Here is what Tennessee’s players have said about Alabama this week:
Defensive Back Christian Charles
On preparing for Alabama QB Bryce Young…
“Yeah, Bryce is super-duper talented. You know, with his game you can’t take anything for granted. He’s a great passer, he’s an outstanding runner. You have to be prepared in all facets of the game, whether that’s tight coverage or constricting running lanes to scrambling or things like that. You have to focus on all facets of your game, nothing can be lacking when playing a quarterback like Bryce.”
On preparing for Alabama’s wide receivers…
“They’re a very explosive group. All very calculated in their route running. All are threats down the field. You can’t take anyone on their receiving core lightly at all.”
Quarterback Hendon Hooker
On preparing for Alabama this week…
“Many times we hit on our next opportunity. And this is our next opportunity. We look at it as a one-week season, so this is a championship game. Really excited to just get out there and compete at a high level with my brothers.”
On QB Bryce Young and their interactions at the Manning Passing Academy…
“Awesome player. Very electric. I love to see him play. We spent some time at the Manning Academy and chopped it up a little bit. Really, just had a good time, a genuine time, of enjoying everyone that was there. Just having general conversations and sometimes, here or there, we’d throw out – ‘If it’s third and 10 and you’re on the 10, whatcha thinking?’ – some things like that, nothing more than that.”
Offensive Lineman Cooper Mays
On how talented Alabama’s front seven is…
“Alabama is always going to have a really good front seven as far as I’m concerned, and especially with the recent history and everything. They’ve just got a lot of big guys that can run (and are) athletic. Just being able to fly around, they’re disciplined and they’re big guys that can play sideline to sideline.”
On Will Anderson…
“Anytime you’ve got somebody like Will Anderson, that’s going to be a big stress to figure out where he is and trying to find out what he’s doing. But we’ve just got to do our job at a high level. He’s a great player and it’ll be a really good challenge for us.”
Linebacker Aaron Beasley
On when he was told about the Tennessee-Alabama rivalry…
“The Third Saturday in October, that’s pretty much the first thing I heard when I got here. It’s big, of course, really no different than Florida. I would assume big game for everybody who’s a Tennessee fan.”
On Alabama RB Jahmyr Gibbs…
“I really don’t know him personally. I watched a lot of his play, especially when he was at Georgia Tech. One of my old high school coaches actually coached him when he was in high school at – I think he went to Dalton, I want to say. But, yeah, I like Jahmyr’s game. He’s an excellent player. One of the better players that they have. He’ll be a good challenge for us this week.
Defensive Lineman LaTrell Bumphus
On preparing for Alabama…
“Obviously they’re a good team all the way around. Up front they are very well coached. Skill positions the same way. Quarterback, Bryce, obviously he was the Heisman last year. So we’ve got to prepare for him and the backup as well.”
On Alabama’s offensive line…
“They’re big up front, physical, and a lot of times they aren’t going to beat themselves. So I think it’s important for us to do what we’re supposed to do and just be coached up the way we are.”
