“We are a spread vertical option offense,” Walden said. “We have always been that way. We have been doing the wide spilts for about ten years now, what (Art) Briles was doing and what (Josh) Heupel is doing now. My origins, Mike Leach, I studied him. Kliff (Kingsbury) was always so good to me, letting me pick his brain.
“I understood that you have to be able to run the ball to win championships. My biggest thing was, how do you blend the worlds? How do you blend throwing the ball down field effectively and running the ball? That is what we were doing my first OC job.”
The Vols defeated Austin Peay, 45-0, in Butch Jones’ first game as Tennessee’s head coach.
Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley completed 11-of-13 passing attempts for 104 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also recorded 21 rushing yards on four attempts.
Nathan Peterman also completed 4-of-8 passing attempts for 28 yards in the contest.
Rajion Neal led Tennessee in rushing yards (141), while Marlin Lane led the Vols in rushing touchdowns (two). Brendan Downs, Pig Howard and Devrin Young scored receiving touchdowns for Tennessee.
The Vols will play Austin Peay for a second time in Week 2 of the 2023 season.
Below are photos of the Tennessee-Austin Peay series through the years.
A look back at the all time football series between Tennessee and Austin Peay.
No. 9 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) will host Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 ASUN) Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. EDT and can be watched on SEC Network+.
Saturday will mark the second meeting between the Vols and Governors. Tennessee holds a 1-0 advantage in the all time series, dating back to 2013.
Tennessee defeated Austin Peay, 45-0, on Aug. 31, 2013 in a season-opening matchup. The contest was the Vols’ first game under head coach Butch Jones.
Justin Worley completed 11-of-14 passing attempts for 104 yards and three touchdowns for the Vols. Marlin Lane scored two rushing touchdowns in the contest.
A look at Tennessee-Austin Peay football game week social media buzz.
No. 9 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) enters its second week during the 2023 season.
The Vols will host Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 ASUN) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium (5 p.m. EDT, SEC Network+).
Tennessee kicked off its 2023 season with a 49-13 victory against Virginia in Week 1. The contest set an athletic attendance record for Nissan Stadium (69,507) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Southern Illinois defeated Austin Peay, 49-23, in Week 1.
The Vols will wear Artful Dodger Smokey Grey uniforms versus Austin Peay, marking the 51st anniversary of quarterback Condredge Holloway’s first start as a Vol. Holloway, nicknamed the Artful Dodger, made history as the first Black player to start at quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.
Ahead of Saturday’s Week 2 contest, Vols Wire looks at game week social media buzz and is listed below.
Thursday also opens the 2023 NFL campaign and Heupel wished former Vols well for their upcoming season.
“I know the NFL season opens up, I just wanted to wish all of our VFLs over the course of the season good luck, and hopefully we’ll see a bunch of them back here during their BYE weeks,” Heupel said. “Good luck to those guys as they kick off. Looking forward to Saturday night here inside of Neyland. Can’t wait to see 102,000 of our fans there. I want that place to be rocking like it always is.”
Everything Heupel said during his press conference on Thursday is listed below.
Kickoff between the Vols and Governors is slated for 5 p.m. EDT at Neyland Stadium and can be watched on SEC Network+. Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Dave Steckel (analyst) will be on the call.
Tennessee will wear Artful Dodger Smokey Grey uniforms on Saturday, the 51st anniversary of quarterback Condredge Holloway’s first start as a Vol.
Holloway, nicknamed the Artful Dodger, made history as the first Black player to start at quarterback in the Southeastern Conference.
Kickoff between the Vols and Governors is slated for 5 p.m. EDT (SEC Network+) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Dave Steckel (analyst) will be on the call.
Walden, 33, has served as a head coach at Austin Peay, Southern Miss and East Texas Baptist since 2016.
His background is on the offensive side of the ball and operates with a spread tempo, going no huddle, while snapping the ball every 12 seconds.
Walden grew up studying the Air Raid offense with an understanding of the importance to run the ball.
Walden discussed his program and offense with Vols Wire ahead of the Austin Peay-Tennessee game.
“We are a spread vertical option offense,” Walden said. “We have always been that way. We have been doing the wide spilts for about ten years now, what (Art) Briles was doing and what (Josh) Heupel is doing now. My origins, Mike Leach, I studied him. Kliff (Kingsbury) was always so good to me, letting me pick his brain.
“I understood that you have to be able to run the ball to win championships. My biggest thing was, how do you blend the worlds? How do you blend throwing the ball down field effectively and running the ball? That is what we were doing my first OC job.”
Lanear Sampson (3). Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Walden has co-offesnive coordinators on staff in Jared Kaster and Lanear Sampson.
Kaster is serving as co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach. He played offensive line for Kingsbury at Texas Tech (2013-15) and served as an offensive quality control coach with the Red Raiders (2016-17).
Sampson is serving as co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under Walden. He played wide receiver for Briles at Baylor from 2008-12.
Sampson was an offensive quality control coach under Heupel at UCF in 2020.
“Hiring Jared Kaster and Lanear Sampson from their trees kind of resembles that philosophy of aligning the worlds,” Walden said of fielding an offense meshing an Air Raid attack with the veer-and-shoot that Heupel has implemented since serving as Missouri’s offensive coordinator in 2016.
Billy Ray Johnson (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Quarterback Jake Johnson is also on roster for Austin Peay in 2023. He is the son of Billy Ray Johnson, who serves as chief of staff under Heupel at Tennessee.
“Jake is like my right-hand man,” Walden said. “We do satellite camps in Tennessee. We had a camp in Knoxville and Jake came out there. He threw the ball and he can throw. He is a good kid and we had a spot for him.
“He has been a culture driver since day one, a lockeroom glue guy. We talk ball all the time.”
Announcers are named for the Tennessee-Austin Peay football game in Week 2.
Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) will play its home opener on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols will host Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 ASUN) at 5 p.m. EDT. Saturday’s contest can be watched on SEC Network+. Justin Kutcher (play-by-play) and Dave Steckel (analyst) will be on the call.
Tennessee kicked off its 2023 season with a 49-13 victory against Virginia in Week 1. The contest took place at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee and set an athletic attendance record for the venue (69,507).
Austin Peay enters Week 2 after losing, 49-23, at Southern Illinois.
Joey Halzle is in his third season at Tennessee and first as the Vols’ offensive coordinator.
He served as quarterbacks coach from 2021-22 for the Vols.
Tennessee’s offense totaled 499 yards (212 passing, 287 rushing) in its season-opening win versus Virginia during Week 1.
No. 9 Tennessee (1-0, 0-0 SEC) will next play Austin Peay (0-1, 0-0 ASUN) on Saturday in Week 2 at Neyland Stadium. Kickoff between the Vols and Governors is slated for 5 p.m. EDT and can be watched on SEC Network+.
