Everything Josh Heupel Said After Vols’ Week One Win Over Bowling Green
Thursday night, Tennessee opened the Josh Heupel era with a 38-6 win over Bowling Green at Neyland Stadium.
Here’s everything the Vols’ head coach had to say after the victory.
Opening Statement...
"It was a great night. First of all, I want to start by just saying what an awesome experience for our players and our staff. For some of them, this was the first time they’ve experienced going through the Vol Walk and running through the T. The fan support tonight – on a Thursday night – was absolutely fantastic. With the student section, you could feel their energy from the very beginning at kickoff. I appreciate that, and we will continue to need that from them here in the future.
“This morning, it was a unique opportunity to honor the trailblazers that have come through this program. I got the chance to see a bunch of VFLs that were back. I got a chance to meet some of them and re-interact with some of them that have been by campus or practice before. It was a great start to the day.
“I’m excited about the win. We have a ton of ways that we can and will need to improve out of this football game. Defensively, I thought we played with passion, played with effort and played with energy. We tackled relatively well in space. We did a really good job for most of the night. Offensively, there were times when we were clicking, handling things and played efficiently. At other times, there were simple things that we can control where we didn’t operate as efficiently as we can. We will need to clean those things up as we continue to move deeper into the season.
“For us, there are seven months of work that goes into getting to this point, building something from scratch. I’m talking about relationships, who we are, what’s the standard and what does it mean to be a Tennessee Volunteer football player. I’m really proud of getting to this point, playing with passion and energy, being able to celebrate a win. Obviously, when we get back on Saturday, we will have the opportunity to watch video and get a whole lot better from there.”
On comparing the offense in the first game to the offense during camp...
"I thought the run game operated relatively efficiently. There were a couple of times that we weren’t on the right hat. I thought the pass game was really hit and miss from us tonight. Some of that was quarterback decision making and being accurate with the football. Some of it was wide receivers being on the same page. [There were] a couple of opportunities to catch it that we didn’t. We are going to have to be a lot more efficient in the pass game than we were tonight.”
On Joe Milton III starting 9-of-11 passing but finishing the game 11-of-23 and then turning to the run game...
"[Going to the run game] was what [Bowling Green] was doing. We felt like we had an opportunity because of their drop-8 coverages. There were a couple of times that I didn’t like his decision making. There were some things that were open; a couple of guys running open down the middle of the football field that he didn’t recognize or see. There are some things that he has to clean up. Offensively, we will have to clean up a bunch of things, too. At the same time, there were some positives that came out of it as well.”
On if there were any issues with the offense moving at a quick pace...
"No. There are definitely some things that we can clean up and operate. I think that’s part of the passing game at times. There is some decision making in our RPO game that can be a whole lot better. With the adjustment to what we prepare for to what we ultimately see, we have to be cleaner with that during the course of a ballgame. There are a lot of ways that we will get better: players, coaches and all of us together. It’s week one, year one. We got the win, and you have to enjoy it. I told the team that you have to. It’s a hard game. But at the same time, we will come back on Saturday after the coaches get back from being on the road and have the opportunity to get a whole lot better.”
On if the pace of play tonight is what he wanted it to be...
"We don’t have a set number of plays that we want to run during the course of a ballgame. Every game unfolds differently, so how you handle those situations is extremely important. I thought when we played with tempo that our kids operated relatively efficiently. You didn’t see a bunch of pre-snap penalties, but there are things that, once the ball is snapped, we have to clean up for us to operate as efficiently as we possibly can. A bunch of that could be seen in the pass game.”
On the decision to insert Ollie Lane in the offensive line early in the game and move Jerome Carvin down the line:
“Just how they’ve prepared and played during the course of practice. I felt like that gave us the best five at that time.”
On what he saw from Ollie Lane:
“Inside, I thought (the offensive line) did a good job. The communication with Cooper going out and Jerome getting everybody in sync, on the same page in our run game (was helpful). We were pretty much hatting them up the way that we wanted to. That part of it was really good to see from Jerome, and obviously Ollie bumping in there.”
On his overall thoughts on Tennessee’s defense, after allowing just six points to open the season:
“I thought we played vertically, disrupted, distorted and changed the line of scrimmage pretty consistently throughout the night. In the second quarter, you saw them (Bowling Green) have a couple drives, extend some things, hit some plays—a couple of boot plays and three-level passes that we’ve got to clean up. For most of the night, I felt like our first, second and third levels operated pretty cleanly and efficiently. We headed things up the right way, communicated really well and as much as anything, played with great effort and strength.”
On Jabari Small and Tiyon Evans’ performances:
“I thought they pressed the line of scrimmage for most of the night. They did a really good job of getting vertical, front-wise. They were a little bit different than some of the things that we had planned for. They adjusted to it, handled it and delivered blockers. I thought they took care of the football really well tonight. Overall, I’m really pleased with their performances.”
On the status of Jimmy Calloway and how he would assess what he saw from the wide receivers Thursday:
“I thought there were some positives. We as a passing unit, if you want to describe it that way, quarterbacks and wide receivers didn’t perform the way we’re capable of and the way that we’re going to need to moving forward. There were some positives early. We can be a whole lot better, and we’re going to be. As far as Jimmy Calloway, I’d expect to have him back really soon.”
On the status of Byron Young:
“We do expect him back. We’re working through the NCAA eligibility process with the previous school that he attended after high school, so we’re working through that process currently.”
On how good it feels to get a game under his belt...
“I said it leading up to it, we had to go play a game. You find out a lot of good and a lot of things you need to get a whole lot better on. That’s on the field and that’s off. It’s all of us together. It’s a twelve-week journey. This is week one, year one. I told the guys to enjoy it tonight. It has been seven months of hard work. But at the same time, we can be a whole lot better. If you approach it the right way, coaches say between week one to week two is the opportunity to make your biggest improvement. I don’t know if that is the only time you can make those strides, but you certainly have the opportunity to deal with the reality of who you are and where you were efficient that night and where you can improve. I believe that our kids are going to come back in the building Saturday and be excited about getting back to work and getting better.”
On the struggles in the passing game...
“[Joe Milton] started well and then protection started breaking down, he’s scrambling around and doesn’t have his eyes in the right spot and misses someone running down the middle of the field. Everyone played a part in it.”
On if he thought about making a quarterback change..
“No. There wasn’t anything that was earth-shattering that felt like we had to make a change. We believe in Joe. We believe in the other two guys too. We really do. Strength in a position can never be one guy, they’re all going to have to compete and get better. Joe will need to continue to get better too.”
On if he was concerned with Joe Milton’s play in the second half...
“We’ll have a chance to go back and watch the tape. Guys are going to continue to improve. It’s the first time we played in the system inside of a live football game and it was in Neyland Stadium. There were a lot of really good things and a lot we can get better at too.”
On Cooper Mays’ injury...
“At this point, we expect to have him back the following week.”
On if Joe Milton’s throw power contributed to the dropped balls...
“No. Those were deep, vertical seams. There wasn’t anything short that was dropped. It’s all of us executing at a higher level than we are.”
On the defensive line’s performance tonight...
“I thought we changed the line of scrimmage tonight. Played on edges, played vertical, and are going to need to improve on that as we get deeper into our season. I thought for week one there were a lot of positive steps up front.”
