Vols notes: Wood-Anderson eager to see rivalry with Florida up close

Tennessee tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson carries the ball after a catch during the Vols' home win against East Tennessee State in September 2018.
Tennessee tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson carries the ball after a catch during the Vols' home win against East Tennessee State in September 2018.

KNOXVILLE - Dominick Wood-Anderson is from California, but the Tennessee junior tight end said Tuesday that he grew up watching the Tennessee-Florida rivalry.

"The Pac-12, they take it serious," Wood-Anderson said. "But I think the Southeast takes football more serious."

Wood-Anderson, who is in his first season with the Volunteers after transferring from Arizona Western College, will get his first taste of the rivalry Saturday night when the Vols host the Gators at 7 at Neyland Stadium in front of an expected crowd of more than 100,000.

photo Tennessee's Dominick Wood-Anderson (4) catches a touchdown pass in front of West Virginia's Dylan Tonkery (10) in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

"The players have been telling me it's going to be wild," Wood-Anderson said. "Really, you've just got to stay level-headed. You can't get too high. I think that players can tend to get rattled by a huge crowd. So I feel like you've just got to stay calm and stay focused."

Wood-Anderson said he was mainly a Southern California fan growing up.

"But I was also a Florida fan," he said. "Me being able to play against them is just kind of a dream come true somewhat."

Wood-Anderson cited former Gators cornerback Vernon Heargraves, quarterback Tim Tebow and tight end Aaron Hernandez as players who drew him to watching Florida.

"They've always got speed," Wood-Anderson said. "They've always got talented players. So we've just got to go in there with our working hat and step to the challenge."

Florence fallout

The hometowns of Tennessee's eight players from the Carolinas avoided the worst of Hurricane Florence's wrath, but the storm did bring friends and family members of some Vols to Knoxville from the affected areas.

"I had a bunch of friends and family on the coast, like the Wilmington and Greenville area, that were hit pretty bad," said senior defensive tackle Shy Tuttle, who is from the Winston-Salem area of central North Carolina. "Well, Wilmington was hit pretty bad. A couple of my family had to evacuate."

Tuttle said his mom and two close friends came to Knoxville for the Vols' win over UTEP. The athletic department distributed more than 1,000 free tickets to storm evacuees.

2019 slate finalized

Tennessee will play eight home games for the first time since 2011 next season. The Vols' 2019 schedule became official on Tuesday. It matches up favorably to the 2018 schedule that presents a daunting stretch of five SEC games for the Vols over the next six weeks.

Brigham Young's 2019 visit to Knoxville will be the first meeting between the programs. The Cougars upset then-No. 5 Wisconsin on the road last week and are ranked 25th in this week's Associated Press poll.

UT-Chattanooga will visit Knoxville on Sept. 14 next season for the 43rd meeting between the schools.

The Vols' 2019 schedule

Aug. 31: Georgia State

Sept. 7: Brigham Young

Sept. 14: UT-Chattanooga

Sept. 21: at Florida

Oct. 5: Georgia

Oct. 12: Mississippi State

Oct. 19: at Alabama

Oct. 26: South Carolina

Nov. 2: Ala.-Birmingham

Nov. 9: at Kentucky

Nov. 23: at Missouri

Nov. 30: Vanderbilt

Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.

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