Everything Josh Heupel Said After Tennessee's Thrilling Victory Over No.3 Alabama

Tennessee outlasted Alabama in a shootout inside of Neyland Stadium on Saturday night. Following the 52-49 victory, Josh Heupel discussed the win and more with the media. Below is everything he had to say. 

OPENING STATEMENT

"Sorry, I'm a little bit late. During the week, I don't know that I downplayed it, but I certainly didn't recognize it. And felt it and knew it from the moment that I got here. Tonight, obviously, was for our players, but it's for our former players, it's for our donors, it's for our fans. I know how much this has meant to the people of Tennessee and Vol Nation. So excited that we're coming out with a win for everybody involved. It was a great night. Man, I think it just speaks to the mentality, the growth and the progress of the individuals inside of our locker room and collectively as a team. It speaks to our coaching staff, Coach (Alex) Golesh, Coach (Tim) Banks, Coach (Mike) Ekeler, our coordinators, and every assistant coach, our young coaches too, just the growth inside of our program from the time that we got here. The ability to be resilient. It wasn't pretty in the second half. There was a lot of things that we didn't do at the level that we're capable of. But our kids continue to reset and go play and believe. And ultimately find a way when it ticks to zero to be on the right side of the scoreboard. So really proud of them. Excited to be able to celebrate with everybody tonight."

ON EXECUTING IN THE FINAL SECONDS TO GET INTO FIELD GOAL RANGE

"The ability to finish a half or a game the way that we did offensively, today and the games that you're speaking about, it starts with your quarterback, him being able to be decisive, take care of the ball. You have to trust in him. Five guys up front doing a phenomenal job protecting tonight, against a defensive line as good as anybody in the country. Then guys out on the perimeter making plays. Ramel Keyton, huge catch. Bru (McCoy) setting (the game-winning field goal) up. How about Chase McGrath? Obviously in the middle part of the football game (the missed extra point), one that he wants to have back. I went over and talked to him and he gave me the look like get away from me, I'm good, you don't need to talk to me. You know what I mean? He's a competitor. For him to go out and finish it tonight that way, it's just fitting. Really proud of that."

ON THE SCENE IN THE LOCKER ROOM AFTER THE GAME

"The scene after the game, our administration had a plan. We were trying to make sure our team was safe, our staff were safe. Man, what an unbelievable scene. As that thing ends, shoot, I'm running out in the middle of the field. But you can see the swarm of orange coming down (onto the field). The orange out was phenomenal tonight. But God, the energy from our fans, man. Student body, our entire, entire stadium, it was electric. Vol Walk is always the most unique thing in college sports in my opinion. Until you experience it, it's just words, but it truly is. Tonight's Vol Walk was unlike anything I could ever imagine. The sea (of people) when I turned left with my kids was so deep. Man, what an awesome night for Vol Nation."

ON HENDON HOOKER LIVING UP TO THE HYPE

"Man, the guy is playing at an unbelievable level. Smart, tough, competitive, decisive. Accurate with the football short, medium, and deep. Guy that controlled the game for us. And used his feet when he had to. He's the key to the ignition that makes us go, man."

ON HIS TEAM HANGING ON IN A GAME OF THIS MAGNITUDE

"I do think our program, our players, our coaches are calm in the storm. We talk a lot about it. We talked about it this week. Sixty minutes. It doesn't matter what it looks like in the beginning, the middle, the end. Late third, early fourth, man it didn't look good. But our guys just continued to reset. The greatest thing I can say is when they're coming off the field after something doesn't go right, man, they've already reset. That's true with the offense with the fumble, defensively they give up a score. They're ready to go compete the next time. That speaks to the culture in the program. That speaks to our coaching staff. I mentioned our coordinators. Our entire coaching staff does a phenomenal job. It speaks to the leadership, too. And Hendon is a big part of that."

ON THE POSTGAME CIGAR

"I smoked it slow, but it was dang good. It was a great night, man. So much fun. From former players to our current players, guys that just finished a year ago are a huge part of this culture and what this program has been able to do this year. But just that trajectory from last year. Man, it was a great night."

ON IF HE REMEMBERS HIS LAST CIGAR BEFORE TONIGHT

"I'm going to say no to that."

ON IF HE'LL TALK TO HIS PLAYERS ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE AND WHAT THIS WIN COULD MEAN FOR THIS SEASON

"Big picture, this means that we were the best team on the field this game. And that is our goal every single week. There are so many uncontrollables. Control what we can control. It doesn't change from week to week. This journey is just beginning. Good teams get better throughout the course of the season. We're halfway of the regular season. We're just beginning. We've got guys we've got to get back healthy. We've got to continue to improve in all areas. You guys saw it, there are a lot of things, starting with me, to our players, that we can be better at. We're glad to get this one, but this is just this one. Enjoy it today. Tomorrow our staff will flip the switch and start correcting things at 10 o'clock in the morning. And our players will flip the switch Monday. But they should, everybody should, enjoy it tonight."

ON WHERE THIS GAME STANDS AMONG ALL THE ONES HE'S BEEN A PART OF

"This is a great one. It's special. Obviously the opponent, the way it transpired, back and forth and being on the wrong side of it for most of the fourth quarter, then guys resetting and finishing it the right way. Special for Chase (McGrath) to finish it the way he did. Obviously the two big completions, too."

ON WHY THIS TEAM HAS BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE ALL THE OUTSIDE NOISE AND KEEP WINNING BIG GAMES

"I think we have good leadership within our locker room. It starts there. Coaches aren't a whole lot different year to year. Leadership inside, accountability. I think that's a huge part of it. We have special leaders on both sides of the football. I think that's a big place of where it starts. This group continues to believe. They've been smart enough and mature enough to be able to be real and understand what the video looks like and continue to improve. Their practice habits are one of the reasons that I do love this team. They enjoy being out on the grass together and competing and getting better during the course of the week."

ON JALIN HYATT

"Man, I think that's just one of the great stories. A year ago, you guys all know he wanted to be a great player. You've heard me say it. He's worked to be a great player this year. Preparation meets opportunity; you're ready to go smash it. Tonight he had opportunities and he played really good football, man. Really special what he did tonight. Obviously Hendon being a big part of that too."

ON IF THEY SAW SOMETHING ON FILM THEY COULD ATTACK WITH JALIN HYATT

"Good player making plays. They're good structurally and obviously have good personnel, too."

ON UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ALABAMA GAME

"To be honest, I probably got a better sense of it last year, walking off the field, seeing the smoke in the stands. Understanding the magnitude a little bit. This is one of the games. It was the first game I heard about when I got here. I think you talk to different generations of Tennessee fans and you might get who the biggest opponent is. I think that's one of the unique things being here. Alabama is certainly one of the ones that is circled every single year by our fanbase. Our players and our staff understand that. Knew that going into the week. One of the things I did like about this team is during the course of the week, it was still about business, the right mentality and approach. There was an expectation tonight that we would play and find a way to be plus-one."

ON THE SUCCESS OF THIS OFFENSIVE LINE IN THE RUN GAME, PASS PROTECTION

"It starts with Coach (Glenn) Elarbee. He does a phenomenal job. For those guys, they've continued to grow together. Fundamentally they've gotten better. Communication. We've been fortunate to have guys to play at their position. Our left tackles have changed back and forth a little bit, but we've had some consistency. They've continued to get better. Passing twist games off, pass pro, being better in combinations, run game. Our running backs continue to get better, too, delivering blocks, pressing line of scrimmage and making good reads and cuts. So it's all of it together. Obviously the offensive line is where it starts for us. We've got to be able to run the football and we were able to do that tonight at times."

ON HIS POSTGAME HUG WITH TYLER BARON ON THE FIELD

"No one hug from a player means more than another hug. I don't want to get in trouble. Lets make sure I put that out there. Tyler, just a unique path and story. His ability to gain trust in us as a staff, myself and our defensive line coaches, Coach Banks, and continuing to grow up as a player and as a man. His best football is still out in front of him. But it's a great testament to him and his growth as a player and as a person. Proud of him, man. And there were a lot of great moments tonight. Got a chance to enjoy the success of tonight and appreciate each other. It was a lot of fun."

ON PLAYING WITHOUT JAYLEN MCCOLLOUGH AND KAMAL HADDEN, PLAYING A WALK-ON DEFENSIVE BACK, WILLIAM WRIGHT, LATE IN THE GAME

"It was (tough). Obviously, there's a lot of moving pieces. Guys moving from up front to back, corners rotating, guys not being available. Kamal was ultimately a game-time decision. Other guys had some preparation late in the week to be ready for it. Unique scenario here where we had to play a bunch of guys. Thought they all stepped in and were ready to go compete. Will be an opportunity to learn and get better from it."

ON POSTGAME WITH CHASE MCGRATH

"Yeah, great hug. Super excited. Got a chance to see his family, too. What a great moment for him. As a specialist, sometimes you don't get a ton of opportunities. He got a chance to take advantage of it tonight. Really special. Just his journey, how he got here, one of the first guys that our staff recruited. And overcoming obstacles, injuries, has done a phenomenal job for us."

ON WHAT A WIN LIKE THIS CAN MEAN FOR THE PROGRAM OVERALL

"You can look on Cumberland (Avenue) and the excitement and what it mens to our fanbase. For us, as a team this year, this is just the beginning. We're in the middle stages of it. There's a lot left out there. We've got to continue to improve. At the same time, we have a chance to continue to build focus, urgency, belief, preparation, if we handle it the right way. For our program, you just continue to elevate. Rocky Top is special. It's why I wanted to be here. The fanbase, the game-day environment. The pageantry here in Knoxville. This is college football absolutely as good as it gets anywhere in the country. To be able to showcase it to recruits, to be on the national stage, we're just in the beginning stages of this thing. I think you can't imagine a more exciting time to be a part of something as we continue to build this program."