Vols Football: Will Muschamp Praises John Kelly; Jokes About Ethan Wolf

The Tennessee Vols will host the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp met with the media on Tuesday to discuss his team’s upcoming matchup with the Tennessee Vols.

Muschamp, who is 5-0 against Tennessee in his carer as a head coach, told reporters that he’s extremely impressed by John Kelly, calling him one the “elite backs” in the SEC.

"Muschamp: “I think John Kelly is one of the elite backs in our league. There’s no doubt about that. This guy really ran hard against us last year behind some of the guys he was playing behind. I think the first time he really got a lot of time was in our game last year. He took off from there. You can see, to me, especially offensively, their football team, they feed off of him. He’s a guy that certainly gets them going. He runs violently. He’s a great competitor.”"

The Gamecocks head coach also praised Kelly for his “violent” running style.

Kelly, through five games this season, has rushed for 494 yards and six touchdowns. He’s also caught 22 passes for 229 yards. His best game of the season came against Florida, where he rushed for 141 yards and caught six passes for 96 yards. Kelly, however, was bottled up in the Vols’ last game. Georgia managed to hold the stud running back to only 44 rushing yards (he caught 4 passes for 47 yards).

If Tennessee is going to be successful against South Carolina, Kelly will need a huge game.

But that could prove to be difficult for Kelly. The Gamecocks held Arkansas to 106 rushing yards last week, allowing the Razorbacks only 3.3 yards per carry.

Then again, Kelly is the best running back in the SEC, so he should be able to find some success on Saturday in an important game for the Volunteers.

Muschamp cracks wise on Ethan Wolf

Every college football program has a player that you feel has been around for a long time. When Muschamp thinks about that player for Tennessee, it’s tight end Ethan Wolf.

"Muschamp: Wolf has been there, what, six or eight years? He’s been there a long time it seems like, and he’s got a brother coming."

Actually, Wolf has only been at Tennessee since 2014, but I do agree it seems like he’s been there longer. Perhaps Muschamp feels that way because Wolf was a freshman when Florida visited Neyland in 2014. That was Muschamp’s last year as the Gators head coach.

And by the way, Will, Wolf’s brother, Eli, is a redshirt sophomore.

Praise for Tennessee fans

Muschamp had plenty of praise for Tennessee’s football program and their fans.

"Muschamp: I’ve got great respect for the University of Tennessee and their program and their history. You go back to General Neyland, Coach Majors and Coach Fulmer and the success that they’ve had. It’s a great environment to play in. I told my guys, we played Rocky Top a couple times today. They got a little tired of it, but it’s one of the storied programs in the country as far as the history and tradition of their program. I’ve got great respect for it."

Maybe Tennessee can finally beat Muschamp on Saturday. They’re 0-4 against him at Florida and 0-1 against him at South Carolina.

The Gamecocks and the Vols will kick off at 12:00 PM ET on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. The game will air on ESPN.

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