KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) – Still peppered by questions lingering from last Saturday, Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said the Vols continue to work hard and compete in practice.
“Kids are sticking their nose to the ground and going as hard as they can,” he said.
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“Everybody went back to work … We lack some experience at certain positions,” Pruitt said. But he acknowledged, “We didn’t have good execution on game day and that’s where it counts.”
Pruitt addressed some player position changes, some injury issues and who among his freshmen might see more playing time.
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He also said the defense needs to create more turnovers.
“The first way to create turnovers is to hit people,” the second-year Tennessee coach said. “We need more old-fashioned hits, legal, good, clean football … when you knock the ball off somebody.
“We got to be more aggressive, play more aggressive and tackle more aggressive.”
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The team’s next chance to convert the positives Pruitt is seeing on the practice field to the playing field comes Saturday against BYU in Neyland Stadium at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.