DEPTH CHART NOTES
COACH DEREK MASON:
- OG Delando Crooks backs up Jake Bernstein this week, and not Barrett Gouger, as was the case on last week’s depth chart.
- It’s Bailey Granier OR Blake Fromang at RT again this week.
- WR Caleb Scott is on the depth chart as a starter after missing some time vs. TAMU.
- QB Kyle Shurmur is the starter at QB. No “OR.”
- DE Caleb Azubike is the starter at one DE, and not in an “OR” this week.
- At the other DE, Torey Agee is listed ahead of Adam Butler in another “OR” situation. It was listed in the reverse order last week.
- At DT, Nifae Lealao is listed ahead of Jay Woods in an “OR” situation. It was reversed last week.
- At OLB, Landon Stokes is once again listed ahead of Nehemiah Mitchell in an “OR” situation as the starter.
- LaDarius Wiley has moved ahead of Tre Bell as the second corner behind Tre Herndon.
- Nickel this week (in order) is Arnold Tarpley OR Emmanuel Smith OR Donovan Sheffield.
- PK is listed as Hayden Lekacz OR Tommy Openshaw, in that order. The order was reversed last week.
- PR is Ryan White OR Darrius Sims, just as it was last week.
COACH DEREK MASON:
- Wishes everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Wants to take time out to be thankful for what they have and also to express sympathy to those who don’t have much.
- Tennessee week. It’s a rivalry. Butch Jones has done a great job of keeping his team on track. It’s a tough league, every week is a fistfight.
- Tough loss for them Saturday, but “it is what it is.” Offense must head in a different direction. “This game is no holds barred. You’ve got to manufacture offense.”
- Kyle Shurmur has to make plays.
- UT has one of the best special teams units in the country.
- There’s nothing new he can say about who they are, what they are and what they have to do.
- Mason wants people to know that he knows the importance of Tennessee week.
- A good start offensively is important.
- On offense bogging down with penalties and time outs: if he knew the answer, he’d fix it. They talk about staying on schedule and they’re not doing it. They can’t become predictable. They still haven’t played their best game.
- It’s the SEC. ‘Neyland is great and will be rocking, but no different than other SEC stadiums. They don’t look at crowds, they’re more concerned with what happens between the sidelines.
- They’ve leaked in the run game lately. (They being Vandy)
- On defending UT QB Josh Dobbs: This year’s UT offense is different because of Kamara so you can’t always draw conclusions that they stopped them last year and will this year. But Dobbs is good at extending plays. You have to defend all 11 players. They have to get them in long-yardage situations, but, they’re good at converting those.
- Dallas Rivers is playing more confidently than he was earlier in the year. He hits the holes better.
- Vandy believes it has made great strides but it wants to be relevant. They believe they’re moving in that direction.
- On passing: they have to schematically look at what a defense gives them. Whether they have bad plays or good plays they have to look at that. You can’t take a rear-view-mirror approach. Bottom line is they give players the benefit of the doubt, not throw in the towel on the pass game.
- On coaching not to give up big plays given the offense can’t score: They are who they are. That doesn’t change because of how the wind blows. They missed some opportunities for defensive turnovers also.
- It’s “all hands on deck” this week. You’ll see everybody on special teams, including Ralph Webb. (I think he was speaking hypothetically, but I guess we’ll see on Saturday.)
- On third down defense: 6-of-17 wasn’t good enough. They want to be around 25 percent.
- Today looked like a better practice on defense. There were more balls broken up and picked.
- Tennessee’s doing a good job of getting backs to the second level. VU has struggled with that. The answer is getting more hats to the ball. “Population around the ball is what makes good defenses, good defenses.”
- He believes calling the defense vs. Tennessee will be different. “You can’t always do the same thing against an opponent.” He’s excited about scheming them. They’ll have to be different structurally and keep them guessing.
- They’ll go more with Shurmur this week instead of switching QBs often. That doesn’t mean Johnny McCrary can’t be ready for a play or two.
- This week is different because it’s Tennessee. Should be a great game. They’re full of athletes. They’re practicing really hard and going over film. - DH
- He feels sore after big games, but he takes care of his body, getting ice tubs and massages and such. He feels good by Saturday. He feels good today. He’s ready to play. - RW
- There was more a focus on the details when Mason took over for UT last year. They got the details more down pat for that game under Mason’s direction. - ZC
- He’s getting more attention from opponents as the season goes along. Opponents have told him after games that they were targeting him. - ZC
- He always had confidence a play-maker, but the light started to come on around game 4 or 5. - ZC
- Dobbs is more relaxed this year that he was a year ago. They want to make him more uncomfortable and they have some things designed to do that. - NB
- Hurd runs hard and with a chip on his shoulder. He got hurt early in the game last year. - DH
- Winner of this game gets bragging rights for 365 games. - DH
- They must find ways to score points. If he didn’t want to score, he’d be on defense. It hurts to be shut out. - RW
- He hasn’t played special teams this year except for hands team, but, he’s willing to do whatever. - RW
- It doesn’t matter to him whether he plays inside or outside. He just likes to hear his name called. - ZC
- Favorite thanksgiving foods: all of them (DH), pot roast (RW), turkey (ZC)
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