Tennessee coach Josh Heupel just wants his team to get better when the No. 22 Volunteers host East Tennessee State on Saturday.
The Volunteers (1-0) are coming off a 45-26 win over Syracuse last Saturday.
“We had a bunch of yards and a bunch of points so now we just need to work on constant growth,” Heupel said Monday. “We are all chasing perfection, but we know that is probably not going to happen. So we just need to take a jump by unit and by individuals.”
The Volunteers were led by senior quarterback Joey Aguilar who threw for 247 yards and three touchdowns.
“Me personally, as an athlete, I thought I could have done better,” Aguilar said. “Our offensive line kept me clean and did a great job with the run game.”
Senior running back Star Thomas gained 92 yards on 12 carries and Brayton Staley led the team in receiving with four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown.
Heupel was a little concerned by his defense, which came out flat in the second half and ended up giving up 377 yards to the Orange.
Tennessee led 38-14 in the third quarter, however, so many of those yards came with the game decided.
The Volunteers lost starting cornerback Rickey Gibson III to an arm injury in the second quarter. The defense was already playing without top cornerback Jermod McCoy, who tore his ACL in January. Tennessee is hoping he will be back later this month.
Heupel has not specified the nature of Gibson’s arm injury, just that he will miss “extended time.”
Gibson had 32 tackles, five pass breakups and a forced fumble last season.
Tennessee will lean on Colorado transfer Colton Hood, who had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and three pass breakups in the opener, as well as freshman Ty Redmond and others at cornerback.
Volunteers defensive tackle Jaxson Moi, who started the Syracuse game, will miss the contest with a left arm injury, but Heupel said that he’s expected back soon.
East Tennessee State (1-0) is coming off a solid opener, a 45-17 win over Murray State last Saturday.
The Buccaneers scored five rushing touchdowns and finished with 392 yards on the ground and 572 total yards.
Senior Devontae Houston led the way with 128 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.
“I’m proud of the way we blocked on the perimeter,” said Buccaneers coach Will Healy. “If we are going to run as much as we do, we have to have receivers who can block.”
Senior quarterback Cade McNamara, who played at Michigan and Iowa before joining East Tennessee State this season, completed 12 of 17 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown.
The defense held Murray State to 34 yards rushing.
Healy is well aware that the Volunteers will be a whole different story.
“It is an honor to go play there,” said Healy, the Buccaneers’ third coach in as many seasons. “They are one of the top teams with top level talent. We will be playing in front of 107,000 people in a national TV game. It is great exposure for our program. So the players know they must perform for our program.”
