If consistency is the key to Tennessee’s success thus far this season, a huge reason is due to their impenetrable defense. That seemed odd at first given head coach Josh Heupel’s offensive reputation. It is now the standard this season.
Carrying a 6-1 record into this weekend’s matchup with Kentucky, the Vol defense has not surrendered more than 19 points to any opponent this year. A big factor in keeping those opposing scores low is redshirt junior safety Andre Turrentine.
Turrentine, a graduate of Ensworth School in Nashville, returned to his home state in 2022 after transferring from Ohio State. He set a career high in tackles (6) in the victory over Florida this month and had four tackles in the Vols’ historic win over Alabama on October 19th.
Now in the back half of the season, Turrentine and his defense are determined to remain dominant on the field.
“Just our preparation, keeping it the same, having the same mindset going in every game, not treating any game different than the last one,” Turrentine told the media of the defense preparation this week. “And, just honing in on the details and how we can become better from the previous weeks, fixing our mistakes and understand what we’re going to get from the next offense.”
Turrentine has had an extra week to analyze the Kentucky offense as the Vols spent last week on a bye. What does he expect from the Wildcats?
“Just their ability to stress the field with their ability to run two quarterbacks,” Turrentine noted. “They got some fast guys on the edge. So, their ability to try to spread the field… we have the same mindset as we did last week, taking it to this week. How are we going to prepare for the QB run and how are we going to care for the guys on the edges?”
One of the players Turrentine hopes to see show out on the field is freshman defensive back Boo Carter. Carter also posted career highs in the game against Florida, with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
“Boo has always been someone who’s been calm under pressure,” Turrentine said. “He loves competitiveness and he loves the fight. But I would say he’s grown up a lot, understanding how to prepare better, how to attack each day and not just Saturdays, but how to tag Monday through Friday and prepare to help him be a better football player and a better person as well.”
Turrentine knows what’s working on his side of the field, but of course, there’s always room for improvements. That’s saying something. The No. 7 Vols’ defense will face Kentucky on Saturday at 7:45 EST in Neyland Stadium.
“We all can be a lot better,” Turrentine admitted. “I can be a lot better. Personally, I am self-critical more than other people obviously will be on me, as we all are. But I feel like I’ve done some good things. I can do a lot of things a lot better. So, just honing in on details and taking that step every day.”
