Jim Mora is looking forward to seeing how his team competes against Tennessee.

Tennessee is set to take on Connecticut this Saturday at 12 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. The Volunteers are a 35.5 point favorite heading into the game.

Mora addressed how UConn is preparing for their matchup against Tennessee at his weekly press conference.

“Well it’s fun to compete. I mean these guys are competitors, they love to compete. Just put the ball down, and line up, and let’s go,” Mora said. “That’s how they’ve been their whole life, our players I’m talking about. And their players. Players are big competitors in general. That’s the fun part of it, the competition. The measuring yourself, the testing yourself, the overcoming adversity, the handling success, the bond that you create with the guys on your team. The fight against the other team, and the respect that you build. The respect that they build for you. That’s what’s fun.”

UConn currently holds a 1-7 record this season, and it’s giving up 29.3 points per game to opponents.

“The crowd never matters to us, we know it’s going to be loud,” Mora said. “To be a good football player, to be a good performer in anything you do, you have to cut out all the distractions. All that matters is what happens between those lines on that green field.

“So that’s what we have to be able to do, and I’m confident that we will be able to go down there and try, well I’m confident that we’ll not just try and we’ll block out all the distractions and focus on what’s important. That’s the 11 guys that they line up, and the 11 guys that we line up and the situation that we’re in.”