No. 9 Tennessee's ability to focus to be tested by Ausin Peay before a visit to the Swamp

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The ninth-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are about to be tested on how well they pay attention to the task at hand.

They host Austin Peay of the FCS on Saturday night in Tennessee's home opener with a visit to the Swamp to play Florida looming next on the schedule. Coach Josh Heupel made clear what he expects inside Neyland Stadium.

“(I’m looking) forward to seeing 102,000 of our closest friends Saturday evening,” Heupel said.

The Volunteers (1-0) opened the season routing Virginia 49-13 in Nashville last week in what technically was a neutral site game, though Tennessee fans helped pack in 69,507 fans for the largest attendance at the home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans for a football game.

Now the Vols can try to extend a home winning streak to 10 straight at Neyland, where their last loss was in 2021 to Georgia.

Tennessee showed the offense is just as capable as last season with new quarterback Joe Milton III leading the Vols in piling up 499 total yards. That's a nice follow to a unit that ranked first in the country for most yards and points per game.

The Vols showed some promising signs for a defense that ranked 128 out of 133 teams against the pass last season. They gave up just 106 yards passing to Virginia, an indication of possible improvement this season.

Austin Peay (0-1) makes the trip from Clarksville trying to figure out a way to slow down the Vols’ attack, The Governors struggled in a 49-23 opening loss to Southern Illinois last week, but coach Scotty Walden has an offense that likes to spread the field too.

Walden wants them to embrace this opportunity to play in an “elite environment” and earn some national respect. And yes, try to ignore the noise as much as possible.

“When it’s third down and 102,000 people are on their feet going crazy, there’s no doubt that’s going to be hard,” Walden said. “I’m not telling you we’re going to be naive and think that that’s not going to matter. But what we have to do is mentally approach the game the right way.”

HONORING THE PAST

Tennessee will don Smokey Grey alternate uniforms for Saturday’s game. The “Artful Dodger” uniforms pay homage to Vols legend Condredge Holloway, who played from 1971-74.

Nicknamed “The Artful Dodger,” Holloway made history as the first Black player to start at quarterback in the Southeastern Conference 51 years ago. Heupel called it a special opportunity to honor a great legacy.

“I really like (the uniforms),” Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy said. “It’s like a combination of the Smokey Grey with a throwback (orange) twist to it.”

UNCERTAIN STATUS

The depth chart still lists Cooper Mays as Tennessee’s starting center and Elijah Simmons as an option at defensive tackle. Both have been battling injuries and missed the Virginia game. Heupel did not say whether either would be available. Heupel said middle linebacker Keenan Pili, who started the opening win as a transfer from BYU and earned a game ball, will miss at least a couple weeks with an injury.

RELOADING GOVERNORS

Walden has nine starters back on offense but had to restock his defense after losing five players to FBS programs in the transfer portal. He brought in five graduate transfers from other FCS teams to bolster his three returning starters along with another graduate transfer from Indiana Wesleyan in the NAIA.

Austin Peay has a knack under Walden for forcing turnovers. The Governors have recovered 56 turnovers in 29 games so far with 39 interceptions and 17 fumbles recovered. They have picked off at least one pass in 20 games and had 13 last season to rank 19th in FCS and recovered a fumble in the opener.

TENNESSEE CONNECTION

Walden joked wondering if he had ticked off his athletic director with this trip to Tennessee. The Govs are opening the season with two road games and a total of four among their first five to start this season. Austin Peay athletic director Gerald Harrison is a 2001 graduate of Tennessee.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll