KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — As fall camp has settled, focus has turned to Appalachian State.

Yes, that Appalachian State. The former FCS program that shocked the college football world in 2007, when it went into the Big House on the opening weekend and knocked off No. 5 Michigan.

The former FCS power Mountaineers are in their third year in the FBS Sun Belt, and they have the Vols’ full attention. They’re coming off an 11-2 season that included a bowl win over Ohio.

“App State is a good team and we’re not looking past them,” defensive end Derek Barnett said in preparation for the first game. “I know a lot of people are talking about Bristol, but we’re focused on App State right now. We’ve got a lot of expectations. If we do what we’re supposed to do on the field, offensively and defensively, we’ll be a very, very good team.”

What makes a championship team is its ability to respect and prepare for their opponent like it’s a championship bout.

Junior wide receiver Josh Malone echoed these thoughts in the early stages of game-planning for Appalachian State, which won three FCS national championships (2005-2007) and already won a bowl game at the FBS level.

“For my personal opinion, you respect every team that you step on the field with because anything can happen on any given day,” he said. “Appalachian State is one of those teams that has a tradition of winning, so in my eyes, they are just as good as any team in the nation.”

One game at a time is no surprise coming from Butch Jones. It’s how the fourth-year head coach has rebuilt the Tennessee program.

UT players feed off each other, and have never quit on each other, or the coaches, since Jones’ arrival. After losses at Oregon and Florida in 2013, Team 117 rallied to defeat No. 11 South Carolina. Team 118 lost at Oklahoma along with a one-point home loss to Florida, but ended the season victorious in a bowl game.

Team 119 didn’t quit on the season, either. Gut-wrenching losses to Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama and Arkansas only propelled the Vols to end last season on a six-game winning streak.

“I think we just have a lot of confidence in each other,” linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. “We can talk to each other, we can get on each other and a lot of us have been here so long that we don’t feel attacked by it or take it personal or anything.

“We all know we have a job to do. We’ve been friends for two or three years here and I think that’s something that will help us – just being able to communicate with each other and hold each other to a high standard.”

As preparation for Appalachian State begins, it’s clear that the Vols and Team 120 will not be overlooking the Mountaineers.

Jones spoke soundly that his team is ready for Appalachian State.

“Right now, we are talking to our players about being game-ready,” he said. “As a coaching staff, we met today and reviewed everyone in our football program. Are they game-ready?

“If they are not, then what do they need to do to get themselves to be game-ready? Then we will have game-ready meetings where they will have some goals that they need to get accomplished during the next few days with practice and recovery to get themselves into being game-ready. We will take a couple of days and do that.”