On Thursday’s episode of the Mike Keith Show Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel joined for a Q&A with Andy Brock. The No. 18 Vols are set to kick off at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN. The Vols head into the game 1-0, while the Yellow Jackets are 0-1 and looking for a big win.
Outside of Faizon Brandon’s first road start and Arion Carter’s return to the lineup, I’m intrigued to see Tennessee’s run game against Georgia Tech. What kind of adjustments have the Yellow Jackets made since allowing Colorado to run the way they did a week ago?
Below is everything coach Heupel said on the show.
Brock: 48 hours now till kickoff. What have you liked about your team’s preparation leading up to it this week?
Heupel: “It’s gotten consistently better throughout the week, just dialed into the details of the game plan. All three phases of the game. We’ve had a good mental approach. We need to finish it off the right way before kickoff to go play our best football.”
Brock: What kind of unique challenges does a true road game like this present early this season?
Heupel: “When you’re on the road, the ordinary things, communication, being in the right alignments, assignments, everybody on the same page, all 11 in every phase of the game. So it’s nothing extraordinary. It’s just doing the ordinary things that are really high level. Our guys settling into the football game and playing the next play independently will be really important.”
Brock: Georgia Tech has a deep rotation in that defensive line group. What do the offensive line and the running back group need to do well to keep them from disrupting the run game?
Heupel: “The line of scrimmage is going to be important on both sides of it, offensively and defensively. Offensively, they’re big, thick, strong with their front four. They play multiple guys at every spot. Identification and communication, everybody being in sync with their targets, is going to be extremely important early in this football game.”
Brock: I saw Javin Gordon make some big plays on Saturday. How do he and DeSean Bishop complement each other?
Heupel: “Two smart football players that work extremely hard. They’ve both continued to grow so much in understanding of the game. They play well without the ball in their hands. That can be in protection. Both of those guys do a great job of pressing the line of scrimmage, aiming points, delivering their blockers up front to the second level and escaping into space and hopefully creating some big explosive runs on Saturday night.”
Brock: On the other side, Georgia Tech has two running backs that averaged 7 yards a carry last year. What does a successful day look like for this defense from a run-stopping standpoint?
Heupel: “Talked about it with our defensive unit all week long. I know Coach Knowles and the staff have been imploring how important it is for us to win at the line of scrimmage. You can’t let those guys get started. When they get out to space, or even in the core, on second and third level, when they got their pads going vertical, they have the ability to run through you. They play with good pad level. They got the ability to make you miss. We got to do a great job with our front and our second level, reading our keys, playing our gaps, and destructing blocks and not letting them get started and get to space.”
Brock: Massive debut for Xavier Gilliam. What makes him such a disruptive player?
Heupel: “I think it all starts for him, just who he is. His approach every single day. He’s got great understanding of what we’re doing defensively within the scope of our scheme. He plays with great fundamentals. He’s continued to work and grow in that way from January. But his approach is elite. He’s the same competitor every single day inside of our building.”
Brock: Step one for Faizon Brandon was getting the start last week and getting a win against Furman. As a freshman quarterback, what is step two for him this week?
Heupel: “It starts with getting a win at Georgia Tech. But it’s doing the ordinary things that are really high level on the road, the communication, playing each play independently, being extremely decisive with the football. It’s one of the things that I really liked about him in week one. He was very decisive with where he was going with the football. We’re going to need that from him on Saturday night.”
Brock: The football went to Mike Matthews for two touchdowns last week. What have you noticed from last year to now that’s different in his game?
Heupel: “I just think continued growth. As a young guy, year one, he battled through some injuries, but in year two, so much more mature in how he approached everything that he was doing every day, the meeting room, taking care of his body, when we weren’t on the practice field or in the weight room. And he’s continued to grow that way. He’s got great understanding of what we’re doing. He’s playing with great fundamentals and technique, understands how to attack corners, safeties, depending on the scheme, based off the leverage and the technique that they’re playing. We’re going to need him to go make some big plays for us.”
Brock: What makes Georgia Tech’s special teams unit special, and how important is special teams going to be this week?
Heupel: “Third phase of the game, this is extremely important. We need to win the field position battle. When you’re playing a good team, a physical football team, that’s going to come into play in a big way. Obviously huge kick return last week, brought it out from five, six yards deep in the end zone, very aggressive with their returns. We’ve got to do a great job of recognizing the return and playing the right leverage and then getting off and making a play. Their field goal block, their punt return unit, they have some weapons that can apply pressure to the kicker or to the punter. We need to do a great job at the line of scrimmage and not let those guys win there.”
Brock: Arion Carter returns to the team this week. What makes him so important, both for the team as a whole and individually for the defense and the linebacker group?
Heupel: “His maturity, his leadership, his ability to communicate, all those three things are paramount inside of your program, as a defensive unit, and in particular when you go on the road. So having him back gives us great trust in him and his ability to get everybody in sync.”
