Tennessee Coach Josh Heupel Throws Shade at Purdue Over Suspiciously Timed Injuries

Following Tennessee's 48-45 loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl, Volunteers coach Josh Heupel did not shy away from his displeasure about Purdue's suspiciously timed injuries during the game.

When asked by reporters if players should should have a mandatory cooling off period before returning to games after suffering an injury, Heupel let loose.

"No, it's crazy," Heupel said. "The officials wanted that tonight. I thought that was pretty comical they came up to me and said that."

During the game, Boilermakers defensive tackle Lawrence Johnson took a knee after a play to signal that he was injured. He seemed quite fine up until that point, and appeared to be looking to the sideline for directions.

Heupel had clearly been angered by an overtime call that prevented Tennessee (7-6) from scoring a touchdown on a run from Jaylen Wright at Purdue's goal line.

With the loss, Tennessee's streak of consecutive bowl wins was snapped at four, finishing one win shy of the program's five-game bowl winning streak (from '86 to '91). The Volunteers had won the '14 Gator Bowl, the '15 Outback Bowl, the '16 Music City Bowl and the '19 Gator Bowl.

Tennessee's all-time bowl record is now 29–24, the seventh-best among college football programs.