Everything Jeremy Pruitt Said About Missouri On Wednesday

Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee Volunteers will host the Missouri Tigers on Saturday at Noon ET at Neyland Stadium.

The Vols are coming off an season-opening win against South Carolina, while Missouri was dealt a bit of a beat down on the scoreboard by Alabama. However, according to Jeremy Pruitt, the Vols are in for a challenge with the Tigers.

We have everything that Pruitt said about the Tigers during his final media availability.

Opening Statement:

"When you look at this Missouri team, really came away impressed, especially with what Coach (Eliah) Drinkwitz and his staff have done without spring ball. Probably not your usual summer and fall camp. The way they put it together in the last game, I know the game didn't turn out the way they wanted, but just watching them play, the way they play, the toughness they played with. They never quit. The physicality. Very well coached. I'm sure they're just like us from Week 1 to Week 2, they want to make as much improvement as they possibly can. So, we will definitely need to play a complete game to have a shot at this game. It's a challenge to our players in trying to create the right habits fundamentally in all three phases. It's something we've tried to address over the last four days here since the first game."

On the challenge that Missouri presents the Vols

"To start with their defense, eliminating them from creating negative plays for us. We don't need negative plays (and) we don't need to get behind the sticks. We need to be in manageable third downs. We obviously have nowhere to go but up when it comes to third down. Being able to run the football, especially in the second half, was a challenge for Alabama last week. They've done an outstanding job of doing that. They've always played tight coverage. When you look at them on offense, coach (Eliah) Drinkwitz, he's very creative. He mixes in a little bit of option out of the gun with counter and gap schemes. They spread the ball around, they stretch you defensively horizontally and vertically. Maintaining our gaps and assignments and finding a way to create negative plays for them. Getting some turnovers, holding them to field goals in the red area. Special teams, they've got good specialists, kickers and returners. It will be a tremendous challenge for us, but it is something that we are looking forward to. We are grateful to have an opportunity to play."

On how far they studied Eli Drinkwitz teams over his three stops over a three-year span:

"During the offseason we always find different teams to study just to see how they do things. Teams that have had success whether it's offense, defense, special teams. A couple of years ago we studied a little bit of what some of the things Eliah was doing offensively because he was having a lot of success. You go back to North Carolina State. I mean that's as far as we went back."

On the Tigers QB Shawn Robinson:

"I think he was 19 of 25 throwing the football. They had some pretty good things going for him in the first half. They had a couple of negative plays that got them behind the sticks and if it weren't for them, they would have scored some touchdowns on those drives. I thought they were efficient offensively and I think Shawn is a guy that can extend plays. He looks like he has good arm strength. Keeping him in the pocket and control him running the football on the perimeter is going to be tough."

The Vols will need to have an early answer to prevent Missouri from gaining any momentum on Saturday, if they hope to improve to 2-0.

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