Everything Josh Heupel Said on Wednesday's SEC Teleconference Ahead of Akron

No.15 Tennessee is set to host Akron on Saturday night as they wrap up their early season non-conference slate. On Wednesday morning, Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel joined the SEC teleconference to discuss his team and the upcoming game against Akron. Below is the full transcript from Heupel's session. 

Opening Statement

Just wrapped up our Wednesday practice here and had a good week of work. We challenged all of our guys all week to continue to improve as we continue to go through this journey during this season. Practice habits have been good here this week and looking forward to a game here inside of Neyland Stadium. Looking forward to competing with our guys here on Saturday. 

On His Reaction to Walking Into a Sold Out Night Game in Neyland Stadium Against Ole Miss in 2021

You feel it when you get off the bus. First, the Vol Walk, still the best pregame experience I have had of anywhere I have been. That is even heightened for a night game. To be able to run out of the T, that night the place was checkerboarded, it is special, man. 100,000 plus fans. The energy, the electricity, the anticipation, from our fans, the players can absolutely feel it. In college football, it is as good as it gets. 

On The Program Continuing to Progress

Really, I was just talking about habits and who we are individually and collectively. There are a lot of things we didn't do right in that football game. Certainly, part of that was Pitt, they are a good football team, and I don't want to take away from that, but the ability to be composed for four quarters and overtime to handle the ups and downs, not get emotionally off-track, be able to focus on doing your job no matter what happened the last play, could have been on a different unit, too, I think that competitiveness and composure is something we have grown to. We are not by any means a finished product in anyway, but I did think that night showed some of the growth from our kids when we first arrived to who we are today. The challenge for us is to continue to develop those things. 

On What He Liked About the Tennessee Defense Last Game

I think the ability to reset and play the next play independent. We gave up a couple of fourth down plays, man, the look in their eyes and the demeanor never changed. With our front seven , in particular, we got pressure with our safeties and corners, too, but I thought the effort, energy, strain, and technique we played with upfront showed its head during the course of the football game. We were close in the first quarter; we weren't executing quite as well as we needed to on the backend; the quarterback was able to get rid of the football. I thought we did a little bit better job as the game went on and those pressures started hitting, and we were able to get to the quarterback. As much as anything, I thought the disruption of the run game and the ability to put pressure on the quarterback, the line of scrimmage, I thought our guys did a great job. 

 On The Difference Between a Big Game at Night Versus a Big Game in the Afternoon

The energy and atmosphere inside the stadium wasn't a whole lot different, but I do think there is something different just as far as the pageantry of being under the lights. It is obviously different pre-game preparation because you are in the hotel for a longer stretch, too. 

On Areas of Emphasis to Shore Up Against Akron

Our eyes and keys in the run game and pass game defensively is something I think we can improve. The ability to be more efficient and effective in the run game consistently over the course of the football game. They hurt us early in the third quarter of the football game. Something we have to improve upon to be what we are capable of. 

On Keeping His Team Focused on Akron and Not Getting Caught Up in the Excitement from the Fan Base on Looking Ahead to Florida

Fans get to do what they want, right? They get to enjoy the football game, and in some ways, they are prognosticators. They get to enjoy the build up to everything. When you are a competitor, man, you have to be really consistent in your habits. That is something we have talked about as a football team. You don't have to do anything other than look back at the scoreboard from last week in college football to understand this game doesn't care who you are, where you are ranked, what conference you are in. You have to prepare the right way, be consistent and go play your best football on Saturday.