Bob Kesling Discusses Tennessee's Formidable Season

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00:03Great to have Bob Kessling on the legendary voice of the Tennessee Vols and they're coming

00:07off a huge win over Alabama after they had had a tough game in overtime against Florida

00:14in Knoxville.

00:15But I want to go back to start Bob to the game in Fayetteville where they lost and you

00:19would have thought that Tennessee season was going down the toilet because they had a rough

00:25road game to Fayetteville.

00:27Now the fans are crazy.

00:30We know that that's a given.

00:32But the reality is I've always believed that it is so brutal to win on the road in the

00:37SEC and to go on the road.

00:39I don't care who you're playing.

00:41It is always difficult.

00:42It's a nightmare.

00:43And that day was a tough day.

00:46That was the first time someone all season long and really punched you in the mouth and

00:50didn't let Tennessee do what they do where they score a lot of points and their offense

00:55is clicking and they're moving the ball and they're getting possessions and just moving

00:59down the field.

01:00That was a rock'em, sock'em football game.

01:04What did they get out of that?

01:06There had to be something they learned from it other than everybody thought the world

01:09was ending in Knoxville because they are six and one and things are real cherry rosy again.

01:15Yeah, Scott, it's interesting the week before the Arkansas game, Tennessee went to Oklahoma

01:24and had a knock down, drag out fight with the Sooners but figured out a way to win that

01:29game.

01:30And then they go to Arkansas and you think, well, okay, they've got one under their belt

01:34on the road in the SEC and Niko is going to be able to come out and play really well and

01:38they'll be back to the old Tennessee that we know.

01:41And then suddenly Arkansas comes out and plays a similar defense to what Oklahoma did.

01:46And Tennessee didn't score in the first half.

01:48And that was shocking.

01:49I mean, that was really shocking.

01:51And then Arkansas was just more physical than Tennessee was that day and won it.

01:56And I think it kind of knocked everybody back on their heels.

01:59But it also, I think, brought it into the reality that Niko Yamaliaba is still a very

02:04young quarterback.

02:05I mean, he started one game last year in the bowl game.

02:08And so he's really just figuring out how to play in the SEC, especially on the road.

02:13The interesting thing is that Tennessee has not scored in the first half in the last three

02:17games, which when you look at Josh Heupel's record, a lot of times they score on the first

02:23possession and a lot of times in the very first play of the game.

02:26They've done that five or six times.

02:28So not being able to score in the first half has been a little bit concerning.

02:34But then they figured out a way in the last two games to win in the second half and primarily

02:39running the ball and not throwing it.

02:41I mean, everybody thinks about Josh Heupel's offense being these huge chunk plays down

02:45the field, but they run the ball more than anybody in the SEC.

02:48And Dylan Sampson has just been fabulous for Tennessee running the football.

02:53But they're more of a running team right now than they are a big chunk passing team.

02:57So when you were playing in Norman and you're calling the game and you see their struggles

03:03with their quarterbacks and their offense, were you surprised at their weakness?

03:09I mean, they got serious issues.

03:12I know they're not your problems, but you had to have seen it.

03:15And you got a young quarterback as well.

03:17What was it like seeing their problems?

03:20Well, you could tell that they were limited offensively.

03:23But Tennessee still, one of the strengths of this team is its defense.

03:28The front seven has just been tremendous all season.

03:33When you watch Tennessee play defensively, it's like watching a hockey game because they

03:37roll those defensive linemen out like it's a hockey shift.

03:40They'll play three or four plays and here come four fresh guys in.

03:44And that's really been an advantage for Tennessee, especially in the second half of these tight

03:48games that they're fresh and still being able to pressure the quarterback.

03:52But it was obvious that Oklahoma was struggling offensively to move the ball.

03:56But Tennessee obviously didn't help them very much either.

03:59I mean, Tennessee's defense was really good that day.

04:01So you kind of chalk that up to a Tennessee win because of defense.

04:06But the struggles for Tennessee have continued on offense and they're winning games in the

04:1120s now.

04:12When we, around here, the first three years of Jai Shaipal, we're used to Tennessee scoring

04:1750 points in a game.

04:19That's not happening right now.

04:21Well, tell me about the Florida game.

04:24Florida had you dead to rights in Knoxville and you end up beating them in overtime.

04:29What happened there?

04:31Well, the same thing, that Tennessee had gone back to the running game to grab the lead

04:36and then Florida lost their quarterback.

04:40Florida had dominated the first half and then Tennessee was able to come back and get the

04:44lead.

04:45And then when Graham Mertz, the Florida quarterback, went out, the whole game changed.

04:49He went out with that leg injury and then the whole thing changed because Florida had

04:53to go to the freshman quarterback, Lagway, who's a very talented player, but he's very

04:58inexperienced.

04:59But he led them down the field.

05:01And at the end of the game, with under a minute to go, threw a bullet for a touchdown.

05:06I think Florida at first was going to go for two to take the lead and with about 29 seconds

05:13left.

05:14But then Tennessee called a quick timeout and then Florida decided to kick the extra

05:17point, go to overtime.

05:19And then Tennessee's defense had Florida going backwards.

05:22Florida missed a long field goal and then Tennessee just went to Sampson and they just

05:26marched it down the field to win in overtime.

05:28But that was a tough game and it was a really difficult game for Tennessee to win.

05:32And then this past week against Alabama, those are always slug fests.

05:36I mean, you go back down, they played 107 times, Scott, so they've been battling for

05:41a long, long time against each other.

05:43And again, Tennessee did a really good job on Jalen Milrow, who is, Milrow is the big

05:50star of the Alabama offense.

05:52He runs the ball more than anybody on that team.

05:54And Tennessee held him to 14 carries and 11 yards.

05:58And that was really a key and they pressured him.

06:00So he threw under 50%, I think, from the field and just wasn't very effective.

06:06And Tennessee's defense, I think in the second half especially, put a lot of pressure on

06:10Milrow.

06:11And Alabama made some mistakes, threw a couple of interceptions, missing field goals.

06:16And that could have been a different game.

06:18But then Tennessee, opening drive of the game, Tennessee takes it down the field and Dylan

06:23Sampson fumbles, his first fumble all year.

06:26And that stopped the Tennessee drive.

06:28So neither team played really clean football in the game, but Tennessee figured out a way

06:32to win it.

06:34I mean, this kid, Dylan Sampson, was unbelievable, 139 yards, two tutties.

06:41I thought the vols up front were just giving him massive holes.

06:46I don't think I've ever seen a tied defense pushed around like that in the trenches in

06:54a long time.

06:55I mean, I'm talking about way before Nick Saban.

06:58I've never seen holes like that or a team, an Alabama team, get kind of just beaten down

07:05by Tennessee.

07:06I thought Sampson had nice work, but it looked easy to me with some of the holes he got.

07:13Well, when you watched Alabama come out on the field and warm up, they didn't impress

07:19you like they have in the past with those big uglies, especially on the defensive line,

07:24where they would just kind of maul you at the line of scrimmage.

07:26They have a couple of guys that are really good players up front, but they don't have

07:29the overall depth in that defensive line where they can just dominate.

07:34I mean, South Carolina, the other game, started the second half and held the ball for eight

07:40and a half minutes against them, and that used to never happen against Alabama.

07:45Sampson has been a story because of the fact he's run for 100 yards now in six of Tennessee's

07:50seven games.

07:51Right.

07:52And a lot of his yardage, about two-thirds of it, is after contact.

07:56So that means he's breaking tackles, and when there's not a hole, he creates one.

08:01And the one thing that separates him, he's got sprinter speed.

08:04I mean, he was the sprint champion out of Baton Rouge, and if he gets by that first

08:09line of defense, he's a home run hitter.

08:11So he's just been really good.

08:13Last year he got to play some, but Jalen Wright was the featured back last year, and Wright

08:18was a 1,000-yard rusher, and Wright had a really good season.

08:22So Sampson had to pick and choose some of his spots where he had a chance to play, but

08:26he played well when he did.

08:29But this year he's the featured guy, there's no question.

08:31They're riding him right now.

08:32He's the workhorse.

08:33He rushed for, what, 26 times, I guess, against Alabama.

08:37And so they're giving him the ball, and he's doing a really good job with it.

08:41Honestly, they held them to 89 yards rushing.

08:44That was embarrassing as well.

08:46I'll say this, you don't play again until the 2nd of November, so you're off until you

08:50play Kentucky in Knoxville.

08:52But boy, do you have brutal games at Georgia on the 16th, and at Vanderbilt, who's been

08:57a huge surprise this year, ask Alabama.

09:01That game's on the 30th of November.

09:03So I really like their schedule.

09:05Those are brutal games.

09:07I like where they stand at 6-1, way better than where Alabama's looking right now for

09:11the college football playoff.

09:13Bob, always a pleasure, my man.

09:15Always great having you on Coast to Coast.

09:16Thank you very much.

09:17Thanks, man.

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