The smack talk against Alabama is in full force ahead of Saturday's football game.
"Their team is filthy," said UT freshman Noah Bond.
Most of East Tennessee can agree Alabama is the team everyone loves to hate.
But at what point does harmless heckling become a fist fight? Football games can get dangerous for the fans, regardless of the opponent.
"It's football man, I mean it's the game of football it's the most exciting sport in the world," said UT sophomore Jerome Dooley Jr.
When his team loses?
"I'm not happy, nobody talk to me that day," he said.
He's not alone. Vol fans have some history with being a little short tempered.
Even Peyton Manning took the brunt of it when he was a student.
"I remember one game against Memphis State, I didn't play a very good game and thought I heard a few boos," Manning told WBIR back in 1995. "Being Archie Manning's son playing with the Saints, I was used to boos. But that's pro football. Pro football, you're allowed to. I hadn't really heard of boos in college football. So I didn't appreciate that much."
It's one thing to be passionate, but some students have seen some bad sportsmanship at Neyland.
"[One guy] was sitting there screaming and two people were just sitting there arguing back and forth," said UT freshman Joshalyn Harmon.
"Cup thrown onto the field, you know, boo ref!" said Dooley Jr.
"All the fans that the university provided, whenever we scored our first touchdown everyone just threw them on the field," said Bond.
When the Crimson Tide rolls in this weekend, UT fans don't want to be remembered as hostile.
"These players are playing the same game you know, and so while we can do smack talk and things like that we have to understand that when their fans come here we have to treat them with that southern hospitality we're known for," said UT student body president Ovi Kabir.
He has a message for Vol fans:
"We just have to say go Vols, shout for them, and just let them do the rest of the business," said Kabir. "Let them carry it. Put our trust on our team."
Oh, and Alabama?
"Y'all's little win streak is not gonna last this entire season," said Dooley Jr. "So from here on Rocky Top. Go Vols."
UT Athletics Director Phil Fulmer is encouraging fans to remember what it means to be a volunteer.
In a video posted on UT Athletics' twitter account Fulmer said the team needs its fans to be hospitable to visitors to campus.
