Everything Josh Heupel Said To Open South Carolina Week
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel took the podium on Monday to address the media ahead of the upcoming matchup with the South Carolina Gamecocks. One year ago, the scarlet and black thwarted Tennessee's CFP hopes in a blowout November win. Heupel and company are aware of the stakes and are heading in with an even mindset. Here's everything the headman said to open the week.
Opening statement...
"Looking forward to this weekend. Really good opponent that we're playing. It's an opportunity for us to open up conference play here at home. Excited to see our fans and need a great environment on Saturday night for sure. It's also special that we get an opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our '98 national championship team with Coach [Phillip] Fulmer and the entire crew. I'm excited to welcome those guys back and excited that they get a chance to be there for this one as well. So with that, I'll open it up."
On if playing UTSA before a big SEC slate helps...
"Yeah, I mean, the schedule is what it is. I thought our preparation was good last week. We went out and did a lot of things really well. There are still some things we have to correct, obviously. But we're excited about this one. Getting back into conference play. It's why you come here; you want to play in big-time games like this against a really good opponent. They are good on both sides of the line of scrimmage, and their quarterback is playing extremely well. We got to be our best on Saturday night."
On if "every year is a new year"...
"It's a new week, every week, and it's a new year too. Last year, they were more physical than us. They competed harder than we did on that night. We didn't handle the environment the right way. Those were lessons that, you know, had to continue to move forward with us as a program. But you know, last year has nothing to do with this week. Last week has nothing to do with this week. You know the previous play has nothing to do with the next one, man. We've got to focus on our preparation and be ready to have a great competitive spirit for four quarters."
On if Spencer Rattler's 2022 Tennessee performance was indicative of this year...
"He's a really good player. He's played at a high level. He's played a lot of football. He's playing extremely well right now. He was dynamic in that football game, and he has that in his arsenal. And you know, for us, the line of scrimmage is important, and we've got to do a really good job. We've got to get him in third and long's last year. We didn't get off the field on third and long last year. Some of that was coverage, some of that was him extending and making some really special plays. We've got to do a great job of bottling them up and applying pressure at the same time."
On if he saw South Carolina's win over Mississippi State last week...
"I got home at the very end of the game. I wish I got home early enough for the four o'clock game. I don't, between recruiting and knocking out some of the media things that I have to do, so I didn't get home till the very end. They're a good football team. They've lost a couple of close ones. They played really well on the road at Georgia in all three phases of the football game and lost a tough one to [North] Carolina. This is a really good football team."
On what he saw leading in practice ahead of the UTSA game...
"I don't think there was just one thing. I do think they had great intentionality in the way that they prepared all week long. They had really good practices on Tuesday and Wednesday and followed that up by finishing out the right way on Thursday and Friday. You know, today I challenged our guys: what are the things that you've got to stop doing in your preparation because they're not helping you? What are the things that you've got to continue to do, and what are the things that you've got to up your game at? I think that's important for everybody inside of our program."
On if the third quarter vs. UTSA reinforced his offensive confidence...
"Yeah, we could go on and on. I talked about self-inflicted wounds, not playing smart on the offensive side of the football, hurting ourselves. And in this last one, we didn't do those things. So that allows you to play in tempo, allows you to be ahead of the chains or in, you know, manageable situations where you're not in 3rd & 15, and that helps everybody out. It helps your quarterback out, it helps your offensive line out, it helps us stay in rhythm, and it helps us move the football."
On if there was his biggest takeaway from UTSA...
"The biggest takeaway for me, and I believe I said it after the game to you guys; I know I talked to our football team: the competitive edge that you have to have in this game. It's razor-thin margins that you're playing on, and if you're not on that edge the right way, the game will turn quickly, for a play, or for however long you're not on it. So again, this football team has got to continue to grow and mature, and that shows up by not hurting ourselves, by being assignment and fundamentally sound. But it also shows up in the way we handle no matter what is going on in the game. We talked about playing at like 0-0 for 60 minutes. Don't look up until the scoreboard takes zero in this football game. That will be important. It's a good team. They've got good players and good coaches. You know they'll make plays at some point during the course of the ballgame. You've got to continue to refocus and go play the next one."
On if the coaching staff tweaked any offensive checks before the game...
"We really haven't done a bunch of checks to the sideline. Joe [Milton III] controls most of the football game for us, and that's been true since we got here. So that's not really something that has slowed us down typically."
On 2023 SEC parity...
"I think college football in general and this league every Saturday is its own entity, and your preparation for a play here or there turns the momentum in the football game. It's fine lines, man, so you've got to show up, be prepared, and have a great competitive spirit. You have to play extremely hard. And you've got to do the ordinary things at a really high level in this league and across college football. You know, there's a ton of parity, and when I say that, the separation is really thin. So you've got to be on the right side of it."
On what he's seen from Elijah Herring this year...
"A guy that played a lot of football for us on special teams a year ago and was continuing to develop at the linebacker position when he first got here. You know, in high school, he played on the first level. He's continued to progress with his ability to have his eyes in the right spot: see pullers, get to the right gap, and continue to do a better job of tackling. He's violent, he's disruptive. He cares. He practices hard. He's got the right makeup."
On if anything has changed on the injury report regarding Joe Milton...
"Yeah, I can't believe it took this long to get that question. So, you know, for us, I know there's a picture out there. But for us routinely on Sundays, we're going to make sure that our players are healthy. You know, we have a diagnosis inside and with our doctors, but we're going to make sure that medically they check up on them as well. And Joe has been good, feels good, and is with us today. So, we anticipate him being ready to go and for him to play really well."
On what the Vols need from their home crowd...
"Home field advantage matters. We need energy and momentum, and we need to make it extremely difficult for them to communicate. Our fans need to be a huge part of this football game. They have been every Saturday that I've been here. Can't wait. Expect to be a lot more boats tied up on the river this week, and expect the Vol Walk to be electric. I cannot wait for the noise and the energy inside of the stadium."
On what challenges Spencer Rattler presents...
"He's played quite a bunch of football. He understands coverages, and he sees rotations. He takes himself to the right spot based on the coverage and the beaters that they have up on their schemes. He's got the ability to extend and make plays with his feet. He's accurate with the football; you've got to do a great job. You've got to control the line of scrimmage, and you've got to apply pressure to him. You can't let him out of the pocket at the same time. When he does scramble, you've got to match the personnel out in space. He created a bunch of big plays against us last year outside of the pocket. He's a really good football player that poses a problem. We've got to do a really good job up front and on the second and third levels in our coverage."
On how the young receivers performed against UTSA...
"Saturday was a great opportunity for those guys to get more reps than they had early in the season. You know, I think that starting last week, we had planned on playing those guys some more. I really liked what they did. There's, you know, a little bit where we can be a little bit better between quarterback and wide receiver. Some of the downfield passing we're close on it. We got to go hit those things this week. But I liked what they did: competitive play with fundamentals and technique, and they played hard."
On what Dylan Sampson brings to the team...
"Dylan [Sampson] has been a great teammate. Yeah, he wanted more touches the previous week, and, you know, for whatever reason, we just didn't get that done. But he's the same guy inside of the building. He's competitive and cares and embraces every role that we put him in. He competes for those roles, too. He's dynamic, and you know there are things that he does at the line of scrimmage that are really subtle. Pressing the aiming points, delivering a center-guard-guard-tackle combination to the second level, being able to feel things that are happening on the backside of the runway as they flow over the top to be able to come out the backside. Those are all really special traits. Everybody sees his gift when he gets to the third level to make people miss, the ability and speed to take it the distance. But it's the things that he does early in the run that give him the ability to get to that spot."
Tennessee Volunteers HC Josh Heupel with QB Joe Milton III after a win over UTSA. (Photo by Saul Young of the News Sentinel)
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