Tennessee Vols face Red Wolves on short notice

photo Tennessee running back Marlin Lane (15) breaks past Utah State linebacker Nick Vigil, right, during the Vols' season-opening football game against the Aggies last Sunday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
photo Tennessee head football coach Butch Jones watches the team warm up before the Vols' season-opener football game against the Aggies on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.

ARKANSAS STATE (1-0) AT TENNESSEE (1-0)Noon * Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn. * SEC Network/106.5 FMTHE MATCHUPWhat will Tennessee's defense do for an encore? The Vols forced two turnovers and held Utah State to just 244 yards of offense primarily by making life uncomfortable for Aggies quarterback Chuckie Keeton. There were few missed tackles and little in the way of assignment busts, but that was against an offense with a quarterback 11 months removed from a serious knee injury, four new offensive line starters and a shaky group of skill position talent.Arkansas State will test Tennessee with a faster tempo a more mobile quarterback in Fredi Knighten, who threw for 219 yards, ran for 104 and caught a 45-yard pass in the Red Wolves' season-opening win against Montana State. The Vols had all offseason to prep for Utah State and had just five days to work on Arkansas State.ONE TO WATCHTennessee's new-look offensive line will be even newer after starting left tackle Jacob Gilliam was lost for the season with a torn ACL. The Vols were mum on how they plan to replace the steady former walk-on, but it's likely redshirt freshman Brett Kendrick slides into the starting lineup after finishing the Utah State game.Regardless of who's playing left tackle, Tennessee needs a better improved performance from its line. The Vols struggled to run the ball consistently against an underrated Utah State defensive front and managed just 110 yards on the ground. Marlin Lane's 41 yards on 11 carries led the Vols, whose longest run was a paltry 9 yards, but coach Butch Jones and Tennessee's offensive linemen were confident they would fix what plagued them in the opener.IN THE ENDThe biggest challenge for Tennessee coming into this game is the quick turnaround from a Sunday night opener to a noon Saturday kickoff. It may be trickier for the players to prepare mentally and physically to execute as well as they did against Utah State than for the coaches in devising the game plan.Arkansas State is no pushover, either. The Red Wolves may be on their fifth coach in as many years, but Arkansas State won 28 games and three Sun Belt Conference titles under Hugh Freeze (now at Ole Miss), Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and Bryan Harsin (Boise State) in the previous three seasons. Trips to Auburn, Nebraska, Oregon and Missouri the past two seasons, though, have ended in losses by at least 20 points.Prediction: TENNESSEE 38, ARKANSAS STATE 20

KNOXVILLE - Butch Jones quickly corrected himself.

The slip of the tongue Tennessee's football coach made earlier this week certainly was understandable, though.

The Volunteers enjoyed less competition for attention by moving their season opener to a Sunday night, but playing the game on an unusual night means the following week is a little bit off-kilter.

Jones and his staff have had to adjust the preparations for today's noon visit from Arkansas State.

"We came in on Sunday -- I'm sorry, on Monday -- and got right to work," Jones said at his weekly news conference, held on Tuesday this week rather than Monday as usual. "You have to be cognizant of it was a short week for us. It was a physical football game, so you have to keep that in mind. But we have a lot of work to do, and it's a balancing act.

"This football team must understand what's at stake. The more you win, the more that's at stake, and what you did last week has absolutely no bearing on the outcome this week. You have to have a short-term memory no matter if you win or you lose. You put it behind you, and you move on, and that's what we've been stressing."

Tennessee put multiple countdown clocks to the season opener against Utah State throughout the Anderson Training Center during the offseason, but the Vols have just five days to turn the page and flip the focus to the Red Wolves, the three-time defending champions of the Sun Belt Conference.

It meant the players went through what they call the "recovery station" following Tuesday's practice, and the Vols wore only shells in Wednesday's practice, which usually isn't the case.

"Our minds have got to be right," freshman defensive end Derek Barnett said. "We have to be ready to come out and play. We have to take care of our bodies like Coach Jones says.

"Coach Jones said he's going to take care of us, so we've got to go out every day and get better."

In Arkansas State, Tennessee is facing a program that's undergone probably the most coaching turnover -- yes, even more than the Vols -- in the entire country.

Blake Anderson, formally Larry Fedora's offensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi and North Carolina, is the Red Wolves' fifth coach in as many seasons. Since Steve Roberts, who was 45-63 during his nine-year stint in Jonesboro, resigned after the 2009 season, Arkansas State has had a new coach every season.

Hugh Freeze went 10-3 and swept through the Sun Belt in 2011 before taking the job at Ole Miss, current Auburn coach Gus Malzahn led the Red Wolves to 9-3 season in 2012 and Bryan Harsin replaced Chris Petersen at Boise State before Arkansas State capped the 2013 season with a win against Ball State in the GoDaddy Bowl.

"I think it's how you look at it," Jones said of the turnover. "It is difficult because we know firsthand you win with consistency and continuity, but those have been some great coaches, and they have a great coaching staff there again.

"Everything is how you look at it, just like in life. They've been touched by some great football coaches, so they learn the fine details of football and fundamentals. It could be held to one's advantage because of all the different coaches you go through, and you learn different things about the game of football."

Anderson opened his tenure with a 37-10 win last week against FCS member Montana State, though it was a one-possession game until Arkansas State scored a touchdown to go up 13 with 1:53 left in the third quarter.

Northern Illinois is the only non-power-conference program to win more games than Arkansas State's 28 in the past three seasons, but the Red Wolves, whose coaching staff includes former Tennessee assistant Trooper Taylor, have never beaten an SEC team.

"Their players expect to win no matter who the head coach has been," Jones said.

Tennessee certainly took confidence from how it dispatched Utah State in its opener. The Vols led by two touchdowns midway through the first quarter and squeezed the life out of the game in the third quarter of a 38-7 lead. It certainly was an encouraging display, particularly for the sellout crowd in attendance.

"Definitely a lot of people are excited," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "A lot of people were at the game. It was sold out, so all through campus you're getting told, 'Good game,' and stuff.

"Basically we're focusing on Arkansas State now. That Utah State game is past us. All our focus is on this one game."

Jones won't let Tennessee's focus be anywhere else.

"We haven't done anything yet," he said. "We've won one football game. Arkansas State's a good football team."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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