Tennessee football has leaned heavily on its run game this season. In Saturday’s win over Kentucky, the Vols ran for 240 yards. Daune Morris lit a spark in the game with a 66-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Morris went on to finish with 85 yards and that touchdown on five carries. 

Tennessee, otherwise, took a while to get the ground attack going consistently. That has also been the case all season, and is just their identity of sticking with the pan. This team wears down the opponent, and DeSean Bishop finishes strong. Bishop rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries and went over 1,000 yards for the second consecutive year.

On Tuesday, running backs coach De’Rail Sims spoke with the media ahead of the trip to College Station, Texas, to face an Aggies defense that gives up 129.9 rushing yards a game. Everything Sims said is below.

How does your team keep getting tougher as games go on, and how did it feel to see Daune Morris break his big run?

“Yeah, I think number one to the first question, I think we just do a good job just sticking to the plan. Just playing our brand of football, just keep taking it one snap at a time, keep attacking. And we understand it's going to be ugly, it's going to be dirty, and it may be like that the whole entire game, and we just got to continue to stay with it. 

“Seeing Daune get in there and do what he does, man, that was really good. Like you could tell early on, as soon as he stuck his foot in the ground, you knew he was gone. So I think that was huge entirely for us. As a whole entire team, that was really good for him and his confidence as he done that. So I think seeing him get out there and do what he does, that was awesome.”

With different backs stepping up behind DeSean each week, how have you kept them engaged?

“It's the same way that you gotta deal with stuff in life. It's not always gonna go the way that we want it to in life. We gotta deal with stuff that, we got what our dreams, goals and aspirations are. And every one of them sitting in that room got goals that they wanna go achieve. But it's the same deal. We're going to go through issues when we graduate from college in our professional lives. And you just got to stay grounded. You got to stay humble. And when your time comes, you got to make the most of your opportunities. 

“Two weeks ago, it was JG that got in at South Carolina and had those runs. Last week, it was Doodle. So never knowing when your number's going to get called, always staying ready. It's the same situation in life. Man, we might be down one minute, and then we might be up the next minute. You just got to stay locked in and stay focused. And they've done a good job of that.”

Was that you running down the sideline on Daune's run?

“It was, and I still feel it to this day.”

Did your players notice it on film?

“They did. They noticed it. They understand I'm always with them, too. as they send out that running down sideline. I may not be as fast as they are, but I'm always going to be there with them to make sure to give them some encouragement.”

Was Daune reading the open space when the safety vacated, or was the play designed to go there?

“No, it was him doing a really good job of using his vision, for one. He did a really good job from the jump in terms of pressing the line of scrimmage. We had talked about that. If we get a particular pressure during that week, you know, where this ball may end up hitting it, but he did a good job of using his eyes, pressing the offensive linemen, and then he just let his guard give him the ability to take over once he got an open field.”

Coach Heupel said the backs missed some things in the first half and corrected them at halftime. What's your main message to them week to week?

“Yeah, the main deal with them missing a couple of reads was just pressing too much just trying to make a big play happen. That's all it comes down to is that their eyes were faster than their feet were at times. So they were seeing stuff that they thought was daylighting was just false daylight. 

“So just trusting it. It was some flashing color at times. They were seeing things. But that's the main thing. And that's human nature as a running back. Like, at times I get in a game, I want to press to go make a play. Just trust your eyes and trust your feet and everything will lead you to the right spot.”

Beyond his speed, what qualities in Daune Morris are underappreciated?

“The fact that he'll stick his face on people and be physical. You see right there in the game where he's a lead blocker and he goes and sticks his face on the linebacker and he opens up a run lane for Faizon. It's those things that people take for granted. 

“They always see the speed aspect, but he's powerful too. He's physical too. I think he's a complete package when you look at it from that standpoint. He's still growing in that aspect, but he's done a good job of embracing the physicality standpoint.”

Does DeSean deserve to be in the Heisman Trophy conversation?

“There's no doubt about it, he deserves it. When you sit up here and you look at his whole body of work, what he's been able to do. You got the ranked teams that we played against, how he's going out in the second half and he's been attacking that. Him as a whole entire person, when you sit up here and you talk about, okay, what is the Heisman Trophy? The best player in college football. 

“That Joker story from where he came in as a freshman to where he is now to how he sits over there and takes over games in the second half, how he's a teammate, how he leads the team, his faith value that he's about. Like when you sit up here and talk about the best player in college football, okay, statistically it is what it is. But the best player in college football for his team is D-Bish.”

With all his stats, from the career rushing record to yards after contact, what's your favorite part of DeSean's season so far?

“Seeing him grow every single week. Each week is different from the previous week. And I know people look at it sometimes where he's getting, you know, this amount of carries. He's growing in the little things. Like, you see his vision continue to grow. Like, he was already blessed with really good vision. You see how his eyes and his feet are married together. You see him be able to find those run lanes that it looks like nothing's there. You see last week the dirty yards that he had to consistently get, that he did a really good job. 

“Like, it looked like goal line tackle at certain points in time in the open field, and he still was driving for five. And the fact that he doesn't get frustrated. If he's running for two, he's still happy because he understands, like, I'm going to just keep chipping away at it, keep chipping away at it, and it's going to end up breaking at some point. And then just him, just as he's grown as a leader throughout this season, like, he's grown in the classroom tremendously in terms of understanding the game, asking tons of questions. 

“He keeps me on my toes because if you tell him something as a coaching standpoint, he's going to come back and ask you a question if the picture changes. Why did that change? So I think just holistically him, you know, growing throughout the season is my favorite part.”

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