KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A confident No. 14 Tennessee football team looks toward a big opportunity Saturday in front of its loudest fans inside Neyland Stadium. This team remains in a steady, business-as-usual mindset, but knows the occasion is different from the previous three weeks.
Linebacker Arion Carter brings a great level of intensity on Saturdays, but as he sat in front of the media Tuesday, you saw the level-headed, chill demeanor. When noon arrives Saturday, though, he will be one of the most intense players you see on Shields-Watkins Field.
I asked Carter what the mindset of the linebacker room is this week. It is a huge test, after all, and they will face a team with great talent and a point to prove.
“Just being able to go out there, drive the front, drive the defense, and be able to have loud, clear communications, and have everybody on the same page,” Carter told me. “And go out there with a different level of mindset, not rising to the occasion, but falling back on the level of your training from these last eight to nine months, and going out there and holding up to the standard.”
The training and preparation over the last eight to nine months have built toward moments like Saturday. Tennessee is a talented team in its own right, and has some of the best coaches in the game to make sure it is ready for the Southeastern Conference. Notice I haven’t typed the word Texas yet. That’s because it doesn’t matter who Tennessee is playing; the standard doesn’t change. “Nameless, faceless opponent” is a term used a few times Tuesday, and that is the way it should be.
“The opponent is always nameless and faceless, so you always want to go in with the mindset of, like I said, opponent nameless and faceless, having the same routine and mindset,” Carter explained. “This game is the biggest game of the year because it’s the next game of the year. So you treat every game with the same prep and intensity, is how I look at it.”
That is no shot at Texas. That is just the mindset of this Vols football team, and defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam used those same words. The approach doesn’t change, but that doesn’t mean these players don’t know what’s at stake. When Saturday arrives, Gilliam knows the stage and sees it as an opportunity not only to win, but to show the world who he is. There’s been a lot of recognition for the names and talent Texas has, but Tennessee has them as well.
“Everybody likes to talk about the big names and stuff,” Gilliam said. “I feel like this is one of those games where legends are made, and I feel like this is an opportunity for people to really learn who I am.”
That is the balance for Tennessee this week. The routine stays the same, the prep stays the same, and the standard stays the same. But come noon Saturday, with a checkered Neyland rocking, the intensity is what changes, and the Vols will be ready to bring it.
