Tennessee safety Andre Turrentine finally seems to be reaching his potential as a Vol. It’s been a long time coming.
The junior had four tackles against Arkansas on Saturday after recording a career-high five tackles and a pass breakup against Oklahoma in the Vols’ previous game. Those two games should help Turrentine and the Vols this week, considering both of the Vols’ two previous opponents played two quarterbacks against Tennessee. That will be the case again this week.
Florida has decided to employ a two quarterback system this season. The Gators will rely on Graham Mertz, who is more of a pocket passer, and D.J. Lagway, who is more of mobile, athletic quarterback.
“Both of those guys do some things very well,” Turrentine said. “Each of them, different in their own regard, but they both do things very well. I trust that the game plan that our coaches have given us is going to lead us to success. We’re ready for two quarterbacks.”
It’s good that Turrentine is just ready to play. He was expected to have an impact in 2022 at cornerback after transferring from Ohio State. That didn’t happen. Turrentine was a reserve defensive back and special teams’ contributor. Then, things started to go his way. The Nashville native played in 11 games with three starts last season. This season, the sky is the limit. However, he’s not ready to celebrate just yet, especially after the Vols lost to Arkansas 19-14 last week.
“There’s a lot of things that we need to get corrected,” Turrentine said. “I didn’t think that we played to the standard that Tennessee’s defense would like to play to. We just focused on correcting those mistakes and up to that standard.”
Florida’s multiple passing game isn’t the only problem. The Gators are led on the ground by running back Montrell Johnson Jr., who has 288 yards and four touchdowns on 58 carries this season.
“They want to run the ball and run the ball with Montrell,” Turrentine said. “Just understanding what he brings to the game and understanding how to stop that skill set and using a game plan to our advantage and also the crowd. Being back at home, using those things to our advantage to stop the run.”
Johnson has only 12 catches for 56 yards this season. When it comes to passing, the Gators rely on its receivers more times than not. However, that could change as Johnson managed to match his career high in Florida’s last game, against Central Florida, with six receptions for 24 yards. Still, when it comes to putting the ball in the air, it’s most often times going to go to a Gator wideout.
“I see an athletic group guys who can run,” Turrentine said. “They want to stretch the field with their passing game. And being able to understand that and use the game plan to our advantage and understand that they want to stretch the field and knowing that we keep everything in front of us. We’ll be all right.
When asked about the Vols’ approach to the practice week after the loss to Arkansas, Turrentine said, “We know as a team we’ve got to be elite competitors. We know that in this league, you’ve got to bring it every week”
Turrentine said the Arkansas disaster actually did some good for the Vols.
“It brought us closer together as a team for sure,” Turrentine said. “But the way that we attack every day and every week, it’s just a wake up call. And understanding that in this league, the games are going to come down to the last few seconds, to 1 or 2 plays.
“So, just understanding that message from Coach (Josh) Heup (Heupel) to the defense and the offense. We’ve got to be elite competitors every day.”
After the Vols’ past two weeks, being elite seems to be a long time coming as well.
