Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Tim Banks Talks Preparing For Syracuse and QB Steve Angeli

Tennessee first game is just a few days away and Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks talked to the media ahead of the matchup and how the team is preparing going against Steve Angeli and the offense. 

“Yeah, it's as helpful as it can be, you know, in terms of watching, you know, some Notre Dame tape, you know, offense is a little bit different, you know, in terms of what Syracuse does versus Notre Dame. Um, but yeah, you can see their mannerisms, you know, obviously, you know, some of the throws that he's made, um, you know, some of the poise that he's played with. So, um, that's the only reference we have. You know, we're just kind of projecting, you know, what we think it'll look like. Obviously, uh, with Syracuse. So, Syracuse did a tremendous job last year as everybody knows. I mean, they threw the ball extremely well, uh, systematically. They did a lot of good things, you know, to give their quarterback some easy reads and, you know, those guys were super productive. So, um, I think this kid will fall in line, you know, very similar to what it looked like last year, and, you know, obviously, we got to be ready to go, um, to try to counter it. 

He also talked about the offense and how it looks stylistically recognizing it could be different with Angeli at the helm. In an in depth answer, he talked about what made Syracuse and elite offense and how they were able to be so productive. 

“Yeah, they they they do a really good job of pushing the ball, you know, downfield, you know, with the RPO concepts, you know, has been really productive for them last year. Um, I thought the wide outs, you know, were vertical. You know, those guys could get by you in a second and then you combine it with a really strong run game. So, um, you really didn't see a weakness, you know, in terms of how they went about their business offensively. Um, really good scheme, you know, really had good players to execute it. You know, that's obviously a recipe for success. So, uh, we don't know how much the scheme will change, you know, I think those guys had great success and great confidence in it, you know, and then it'll be up to those new guys, obviously, to execute at the level they executed last year. We see a good offense every day in practice ourselves, and you know, we know we'll have our work cut out against those guys, but I know our guys are up for the challenge and can't wait to, you know, tee this thing up.