Tennessee WR Says BYU Matchup Will Be ‘Helluva Game’

PROVO, Utah – Both BYU and Tennessee have a lot on the line for Saturday night’s game in historic Neyland Stadium.

It has been a long time since either team started a season 0-2. For BYU, the Cougars haven’t lost their first two games since 1995 and for Tennessee, you have to go back 31 years to 1988.

The term “must-win” is thrown around a lot these days but it truly is a game that BYU and Tennessee need or else they will enter territories they haven’t experienced in decades.

Tennessee senior wide receiver Juan Jennings knows this game is a big one and he had a message for Volunteer fans who are considering not showing up to Neyland on Saturday night.

Jauan Jennings called the loss to Georgia State “unacceptable” and pleaded with Tennessee fans to show up Saturday night vs BYU because “it’s going to be a helluva game. We’re going to execute for them.”

— Jesse Simonton (@JesseReSimonton) September 3, 2019

“Come out and show out and we’re going to come out there and execute for you all. Just can’t wait to see you all there. It’s going to be a helluva game,” said Jennings on Tuesday.

Jennings has emerged as a leader for Tennessee’s team that is looking to bounce back after a shocking loss to Georgia State who was picked last in the Sun Belt Conference entering the season.

“I didn’t sign up for a one-game fight. This is a 12-game fight. This is what we are going to do each and every week from here on out. That’s all we got to do is prepare and focus on one game at a time,” Jennings said.

A lot of fight left. pic.twitter.com/zq3VA7EwLc

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 3, 2019

For BYU, sophomore quarterback Zach Wilson is ready for the chance to compete in front of a crowd that can hold over 100,000 fans.

“It’s an amazing opportunity. I know personally, we like traveling to away games. We feel like that hate towards us and people booing against us is something that keeps us driving. So I’m excited, it’ll be an amazing experience for us to see something like that,” Wilson said.

This matchup truly is an amazing opportunity. If sold out -which might be a tall order with how angry Tennessee fans are right now-, it would be the second-largest crowd BYU football has ever played in front of for a game. The largest was four years ago against Michigan. A total of 108,940 fans attended that game that saw BYU get shutout in Ann Arbor.

BYU and Tennessee have never met before on the gridiron and Saturday night’s game will be the first of a two-game series between the two schools. Tennessee makes a return visit to Provo in the 2023 season.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.