After opening the year with five losses in seven games, Tennessee surged into the bowl season.

The Vols have won five straight games, which improved them to 7-5 and earned them a berth in the Gator Bowl. Now, they’re preparing to take on Indiana in their final game of the season and looking to continue their winning streak.

On Sunday, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt met with the media for the first time in Jacksonville and gave a preview of Thursday’s game.

“Well, the last five games, we’ve played really well. Before that, we kind of started moving in the right direction,” Pruitt told the media. “We want to finish. We’re going to remember this game for a long time, and we’ve got some seniors on our team that have really worked hard to turn this program in the positive direction, and we want to send these guys off the right way.”

Here’s more from Pruitt’s Sunday session with the media:

  • On center Brandon Kennedy: “He’s practiced a little bit the last couple of days. We’ll see. It’ll be really a game-time decision.”
  • On Indiana’s offense: “They’re very well-coached. They give you a lot of different looks. I think they’re physical up front. They’re big.”
  • Pruitt said that all of the Vols’ players have made the trip to Jacksonville.
  • On Kingston Harris’ move from defensive line to offensive line: “It was good for us to give him an opportunity and look there. We done it a fall ago, so he had some carryover. He’s actually looked really good there. It’s something we might continue to look at.”
  • Pruitt said Ramen Keyton, Tyler Byrd and Cedric Tillman could get more opportunities at wide receiver with Jauan Jennings suspended for the first half of the Gator Bowl.
  • On conversations with offensive lineman Trey Smith about future: “We have, and it’s something that we’ll sit down when this game’s over with and talk about again.”
  • On guys playing in first bowl game: “The guys are excited about an opportunity to play. It’s a big deal to them. These guys like football, so it’s a chance to improve and get better every single day, so they’ve taken advantage of it.”

Tennessee and Indiana are set to kick off on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.