Quote from coach that Tennessee will face in 2024 confirms that an overlooked game will be a headache for the Vols

When the Tennessee Vols played Austin Peay in 2023, it was supposed to be a blowout.

Tennessee, after all, had a huge talent advantage over Austin Peay.

The game, however, was far from a blowout. Tennessee was never in danger of losing the game, but they had to essentially play their starters the entire game on their way to a 30-13 win.

After the game, Austin Peay head coach Scotty Walden revealed that his team had a special game plan for the matchup against the Vols (which involved some unique formations and an interesting usage of timeouts).

"I think we frustrated them in a lot of ways," said Walden after giving the Vols hell for 60 minutes. " We want to be that FCS team that no Power 5 school wants to play . I know my AD doesn't want to hear that, he probably likes those checks. We want teams to think twice before they schedule the Governors because they won't get a team that is going to lay down. They are going to get a team that's going to fight. It's going to be uncommon, it's going to be cutting-edge. We did a lot of things to disrupt their tempo and disrupt their rhythm. Again, I'm just so proud of the kids. They bought into the game plan. I'll tell you one thing, I thought we did a great job as a coaching staff communicating the game plan because it was uncommon."

Unfortunately for Tennessee, they'll see Walden again in 2024 after he was hired by UTEP earlier this offseason (Tennessee plays UTEP in late November). And it sounds like Walden's mentality hasn't changed one bit since taking over in El Paso.

"You're never going to see me prepare to lose a game ever," said Walden this week ahead of UTEP's season-opener against Nebraska. "We're not going to play to lose a game. We expect to win every game we play. And we're going to prepare to win every game."

"On the outside looking in, people look at this like 'oh it's a money game, just get out healthy', I actually despise comments like that with all of my heart and soul...we're going to expect to win," added Walden.

Tennessee better be ready for a fight when they take on UTEP later this season. They know first-hand what kind of problems a Walden-coached team can present. The Vols should (and likely will) beat UTEP in late November, but it won't be a game where Tennessee can just cruise and get by on talent alone. They'll have to earn it against the Miners.

Related: Former Sooners QB Jason White offers strong comments on Josh Heupel's time at Oklahoma and Heupel's exit from Norman