Butch Jones held his regular Monday press conference this afternoon and addressed several questions relating to the South Carolina game, player availability, and the upcoming game against Alabama.
Among other things:
- The problems in stopping the run come down to being on the field too long, the offense having too many 3-and-outs, and the defense not being able to get off the field on third down.
- Darrell Taylor is still suspended, and Jakob Johnson is out of practice, but other than that and the previous injuries, the team emerged from the South Carolina game fairly healthy.
- Kicker Brent Cimaglia “thinks he’s a football player” and often goes down to make tackles after kicking. He learned on Friday that he’d be the starter, and he was ready.
- Jones isn’t focused on this being his toughest game so far in his career at a time that is also the most important for him, he’s just focused on getting ready to play.
- The wide receiving corps is learning what it’s like to play in the SEC, namely that every catch is contested. They’re working hard and progressing, but need to have more big plays and better consistency.
- There are a lot of things that go into executing a big play. Some of it is play-calling, some of it is winning one-on-one matchups, and some is the timing of the call and where you’re at on the field.
- Jones thought the tempo was good on offense in the first quarter, but suffered in the second half due to too many 3-and-outs.
- When asked if Jarrett Guarantano’s play may cause them to open up more of the playbook, Jones said yes, maybe, but that he also didn’t want to give him so much that his mind would tie up his feet.
- Regarding whether they might consider running the one-minute offense during other periods of the game due to its success last week, Jones said that they would evaluate that.
- They may or may not be done shuffling the offensive line. Continuity is good, but matchups matter as well. Plus, Tatum struggled a bit at right tackle, his problem generally being the “anchor of his sets.”
Here’s the whole thing:
