Tennessee football faces UConn in its final non conference game of the regular season this Saturday. The Vols host the Huskies on homecoming as Tennessee opens up an important final month of the season.
Second-year UConn coach Jim Mora met with the local media on Tuesday afternoon and discussed a number of topics including the Huskies’ challenge in Knoxville. Mora discussed playing at Neyland Stadium, Josh Heupel and much more. Here’s everything Mora said.
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Opening statement
“Great challenge this week. Great opportunity to measure ourselves against a great team in Tennessee and see where we are as a program and see where we’re growing as a program and I think our guys are going to be focused and it’ll be a really great opportunity. I think we’re really looking forward to it.”
On playing in front of 100,000 people when no one thinks you can win
“It’s fun to compete. These guys are competitors and they love to compete. Just put the ball down, let’s line up and let’s go. That’s how they’ve been their whole lives— our players, I’m talking about, and their players. Players are competitors in general. So that’s the fun part of it. The competition. The measuring yourself. The testing yourself. The overall overcoming adversity, handling success, the bond that you create with the guys on your team. The fight against the other team and the respect that you build and the respect that they build for you— that’s what’s fun. The crowd never matters to us. We know it’s going to be loud, but to be a good football player, to be a good performer in anything you do you have to be able to cut out the distractions and all that matters is what happens between the lines on that green field. So that’s what we have to be able to do and I’m confident we’ll be able to go down there and try to block out all the distractions and we’ll focus on what’s important. That’s the 11 guys they line up and the 11 guys that we line up and the situation we’re in.”
On game planning against Tennessee’s defense
“They’re big, they’re fast and they’re physical and extremely talented. How can we gain an advantage in both the run game and the pass game? Is there somebody that we can try to take advantage of? Is there something we can do to cross them up? How can we get an edge in the run game. What are they going to do in terms of pass rush and how do we have to adjust in protection? It’s the same thing every week. It doesn’t matter who you’re opponent is. They’re going to oppose problems for you and things that you have to scheme. This week just happens to be a really, really, really, really good defensive football team.”
“And the same thing offensively. What is their scheme? What are they trying to focus on? What do they like to do against certain looks? Does the quarterback have someone he favors? Is there a weakness up front that you think you can take advantage of. What are their tips and tendencies you can lock into to give yourself just that half a step or, shoot, sometimes less than half a step that you need to make a play. It’s kind of the same every week it’s just this week, like I said, you’re going against a big, fast, physical, talented football team that has little to no weakness.”
On his impressions of Josh Heupel
“I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. The only time I’ve ever been on a football field around him is when I was doing a game with ESPN and he was at UCF and they played Cincinnati. I think he does a really good job of recruiting talented players and putting them in a position to make plays. But I don’t know the man. I have a lot of respect for him, certainly.”
