There's a lot less hype surrounding the expectations placed on Team 121 in comparison to last years' squad. With many of their big play makers gone, the Vols were picked to finish third in the SEC East by the media.
If anything, the lowered outside expectations only fuels the team, and as senior safety Todd Kelly Jr. put it, it's not where you start, it's where you finish.
"Right now we're in the weeds, nobody's really seeing us, almost like we're a snake in the grass," said Kelly. "Our goal is to end up biting somebody at the end of the day and making them pay. And that's what we kind of have, that mindset where we know our value and that's all that matters, and if we give our all and stick together as a unit, as a team, then it's going to be pretty special."