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Tennessee's football team has relied heavily on its running game throughout the 2024 season, and that approach was on full display in Saturday's victory over Kentucky. The Volunteers accumulated 240 rushing yards, with freshman Daune Morris providing an early spark via a 66-yard touchdown scamper in the first quarter. Morris concluded the day with 85 yards and that score on just five carries. Beyond that explosive play, Tennessee's ground attack took time to find its rhythm—a pattern that has become a defining characteristic of the team's identity: wearing down opponents and finishing strong behind DeSean Bishop.
Bishop, who eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the second consecutive year, powered his way to 109 yards and two touchdowns on 25 attempts. On Tuesday, running backs coach De'Rail Sims met with reporters ahead of the Vols' trip to College Station to face a Texas A&M defense that surrenders 129.9 rushing yards per game. Sims covered a range of topics, from the team's second-half toughness to the emergence of Morris and the Heisman credentials of Bishop.
On Tennessee's second-half surge and Morris's big run
Sims attributed the team's ability to wear down opponents to a simple philosophy: stick to the plan and play their brand of football. 'We just do a good job just sticking to the plan,' Sims said. 'Just playing our brand of football, just keep taking it one snap at a time, keep attacking. And we understand it's going to be ugly, it's going to be dirty, and it may be like that the whole entire game, and we just got to continue to stay with it.' As for Morris's breakout run, Sims was effusive: 'Seeing Daune get in there and do what he does, man, that was really good. Like you could tell early on, as soon as he stuck his foot in the ground, you knew he was gone. So I think that was huge entirely for us. As a whole entire team, that was really good for him and his confidence.'
On keeping running backs engaged
With different backs stepping up behind Bishop each week—such as JG against South Carolina and Doodle last week—Sims stressed the importance of staying ready. 'It's the same way that you gotta deal with stuff in life. It's not always gonna go the way that we want it to in life,' he explained. 'We gotta deal with stuff that, we got what our dreams, goals and aspirations are. And every one of them sitting in that room got goals that they wanna go achieve. But it's the same deal. We're going to go through issues when we graduate from college in our professional lives. And you just got to stay grounded. You got to stay humble. And when your time comes, you got to make the most of your opportunities.'
On Morris's underappreciated qualities
Beyond his speed, Sims highlighted Morris's physicality and willingness to block. 'The fact that he'll stick his face on people and be physical. You see right there in the game where he's a lead blocker and he goes and sticks his face on the linebacker and he opens up a run lane for Faizon. It's those things that people take for granted. They always see the speed aspect, but he's powerful too. He's physical too. I think he's a complete package when you look at it from that standpoint.'
On DeSean Bishop's Heisman case
Sims did not hesitate when asked if Bishop deserves Heisman consideration. 'There's no doubt about it, he deserves it. When you sit up here and you look at his whole body of work, what he's been able to do. You got the ranked teams that we played against, how he's going out in the second half and he's been attacking that.' Sims continued, 'Him as a whole entire person, when you sit up here and you talk about, okay, what is the Heisman Trophy? The best player in college football. That Joker story from where he came in as a freshman to where he is now to how he sits over there and takes over games in the second half, how he's a teammate, how he leads the team, his faith value that he's about. Like when you sit up here and talk about the best player in college football, okay, statistically it is what it is. But the best player in college football for his team is D-Bish.'
On Bishop's growth
When asked about his favorite aspect of Bishop's season, Sims pointed to continuous improvement. 'Seeing him grow every single week. Each week is different from the previous week. And I know people look at it sometimes where he's getting, you know, this amount of carries. He's growing in the little things. Like, you see his vision continue to grow. Like, he was already blessed with really good vision. You see how his eyes and his feet are married together. You see him be able to find those run lanes that it looks like nothing's there. You see last week the dirty yards that he had to consistently get, that he did a really good job. Like, it looked like goal line tackle at certain points in time in the open field, and he still was driving for five. And the fact that he doesn't get frustrated. If he's running for two, he's still happy because he understands, like, I'm going to just keep chipping away at it, keep chipping away at it, and it's going to end up breaking at some point. And then just him, just as he's grown as a leader throughout this season, like, he's grown in the classroom tremendously in terms of understanding the game, asking tons of questions. He keeps me on my toes because if you tell him something as a coaching standpoint, he's going to come back and ask you a question if the picture changes. Why did that change? So I think just holistically him, you know, growing throughout the season is my favorite part.'