Tennessee head coach Butch Jones realizes the tall task his team faces this week. The Vols travel to Oxford, Miss., to face No. 3 Ole Miss on Saturday. The Rebels enter with the No. 8 pass efficiency defense and the No. 21 rushing defense.

Jones noted during his weekly press conference Monday that his team would have difficulty establishing its run game against the tough Ole Miss defense.

“Great test. Great, physical football team,” Jones said. “Again, they’re going to challenge our resiliency, our mental conditioning, our toughness, the ability to get yards after contact–all those things that go into running the ball effectively. Maintaining blocks, being able to block on the second level–all of that goes into being a good running football team. We have to come with (that) on Saturday.”

Jones confirmed that tailback Jalen Hurd will be “full go” in practice this week. Hurd saw two carries for seven yards in Tennessee’s 45-10 win over Chattanooga, a week after “dinging” his shoulder against Florida. The freshman leads Tennessee with 374 yards and two touchdowns on 84 carries.

“Jalen will be full go,” Hurd said. “He will be at practice today. He will participate. In terms of Derrell, very, very quick. Downhill runner, north and south, has the ability to make you miss, but good burst and acceleration. I thought he did some really good things for handling his first live game opportunities.”

The Vols saw eight players make rushing attempts in their 45-10 win over Chattanooga last week. Jones realizes the importance of having multiple running backs in the SEC.

“You can never have enough running backs,” Jones said. “I used to coach running backs back in the day. That’s a position of durability, position of physicality. You look at every single play–they’re either hitting or being hit. So, yeah, you have to have depth at that position, and that was never more evident for us than Saturday night, playing a walk-on and a true freshman in a live-game opportunity or situation. Again, we need to continue to recruit. That’s a point of emphasis in our recruitment this year, and it’ll always be.”