Tennessee linebacker Amare Campbell and Tennessee punter Jackson Ross spoke to the media following the Tennessee Volunteers' 20-17 loss against #1 Texas . Both players stood out in Saturday's game, with Amare Campbell recording 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack, and Jackson Ross totaling 7 punts for 324 yards and a successful onside kick with 1:22 remaining on the game clock to give the Volunteers a chance at the win. Following a close loss at home, head coach Josh Heupel and the Tennessee Volunteers now set their sights on Auburn, the team they face off against at home next week.
Here's what they had to say.
"Yeah, I would just say getting settled in. You know, it's a big game, big atmosphere, a lot of new players on the team. I feel like we just we got to get settled in earlier. We got to be better earlier from the start," Campbell said.
"Yeah, I would say I would say compared to last year, we're definitely in a better spot just mentally understanding uh schematic of things and understand uh what we want to do on defense and the reason why he's calling those plays. So, I feel like we're definitely uh ahead this year," Campbell said.
"Yeah, I would just say, you know, how depending on how the game went, you know, just we're on the field a lot. We just got to continue to just stop them, you know, that's the biggest thing for us is just stopping them, not letting them not letting them get no first down, not letting them get no third downs. Just the the mindset of stopping them and not letting them uh score any points. You know, it gets tiring a lot when, you know, when we're on the field a lot, but we just got to keep we just got to keep our mental mental mindset right," Campbell said.
"Yeah, it does. I mean, obviously I'm prepared to kick as many balls as I'm going to and I think I had seven today, which is probably on the upper end of what we'd obviously want and what I've had in my career, but you know, there's always room for improvement in my own game and um Nibblet's a great returner and we knew he was going to get some chances, but um trying to shut him out a tough thing. So I think 57 return yards for him is probably 57 too many from what we plan to do. But yeah, there's always room for improvement," Ross said.
"Yeah, of course. You know, he's a he's an athletic he's a athletic guy. He's a talented guy. So, you know, trying to limit his feet and get pressure in his face early, you know, get some uh people just in his face so he can't read the coverages," Campbell said.
"I mean, you know, those guys, they work hard just like we do. They see our d-front just like uh Texas saw our d-front. So, you know, it's just it's just a steady improvement and just focus on the fun fundamentals. you know, those guys got to tie each other together as a O line, uh, a newer O line together. So, you know, it's different pieces, different parts. You know, everybody got to do their job," Campbell said.
"Yeah, we're definitely in a uh took a big step in the right uh right direction. You know, number one team in the country, Texas. You know, they're a very good team and I feel like we brought it to them physically. So, you know, we just got to repeat that same thing and get better next week versus whoever we play," Campbell said.
"Yeah, so from the start, I saw what was going on. They had uh two guys covering up our gunner, which is a traditional look a lot of time, but once I did kick the ball, that one of them guys started streaming back to take the catch and um nibble at bluffs. So, there's things like that we prepare for. We watch things like that cuz different coordinators are always doing different things. But I mean, I yelled to try and make our team go that way, but so loud out there. It's just got to trust your vision and trust punt locations and stuff like that," Ross said.
"Yeah, it was huge. I mean, that's the first onside kick I've ever done, but we put, you know, hours of time into little things like that. We're getting alignment assignment, things like that. Um, and to execute on my first time and AC { Arion Carter } to recover is awesome. I'm super proud of him and it just gave us a chance to, you know, claw the game back on in our favor," Ross said.
"Yeah, I know it hurts for all of us, you know, just we got we got week in week out, we got play, we got SEC play. So, you know, we feel it today, feel a little bit tomorrow, but next week, you know, we got a game plan for the next team and we got to shift our mindset to the next team. So, we can't let it uh haunt us," Campbell said.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tennessee as Everything Amare Campbell and Jackson Ross Said Following Tennessee Football's Loss vs. Texas .
