Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel met with the media Monday, Oct. 19, as the Vols turn their attention to a road trip to South Carolina. Heupel addressed the quarterback position, the crackback penalty on Mike Matthews, the muffed punt, Cooper Ranvier’s big day and what the Vols will see from Dylan Stewart and the Gamecocks defense.
Opening statement
“Good afternoon. Guys got back in the building this morning, able to watch the tape and see some of the good. But most importantly, see the things that we’re in control of that we gotta get corrected here. Obviously, going to South Carolina this week, facing a football team that’s playing really well. You look at their ability to go on the road two weeks ago against Florida and come away with the win, play extremely well in all three phases of the football game.
“Understand the environment, what we’re getting into, and we need to be elite in our preparation. Them having a bye week last week, an extra week on us, we gotta make up that ground in our preparation and practice well to get ready and go play smart football on the road here to get a win.”
Is George MacIntyre your guy moving forward after two starts?
“George has played smart and efficient like a lot of what he’s done. You guys will figure out as we get to game day.”
After leaning into Tennessee’s history at Arkansas two weeks ago, do you emphasize how often teams lose the week after an emotional win?
“I’ve said it to our football team, I think I’ve said it in here a couple times, every week’s a new season inside of this league. That’s whether you’re playing at home or on the road. The margins are just, they’re small, they’re tight. A play here, a call there make a huge difference, so you gotta be on the right side of it in your preparation. Certainly, understanding what you’re getting into. The fact that they got an extra week with the bye last week, physically, they’ll be as fresh as you can be at this point in the season. Extra week of preparation, road environment. So we’ve pointed to all those things with our team this morning.”
What’s your coaching point to Mike Matthews on the fourth-quarter crackback block, positive or negative?
“Yeah, you can’t do it. When I was playing, that was allowed. I’m old enough now. But no, you can’t do it. I love the physicality that Mike played with throughout the course of the football game. We showed that play today to our team. We gotta play smarter. I love the mentality, attitude, toughness that he demonstrates every play. But we gotta play smarter as a football team.”
How do you feel the staff is handling in-game adjustments?
“Overall, feel like we’re making good in-game adjustments. I think in the totality of everything, it’s always your personnel, what you’re seeing structurally from the other side of the football, offense, defense, special teams, and trying to put them in a position to be successful.”
What was your interaction with Cooper Ranvier after the game, and how much confidence does he give you heading on the road?
“I’ve had a ton of confidence in him. I’m excited for him that he went and performed the way that he did, the way that we think that he’s capable of, on Saturday. But he’s extremely confident, he’s experienced, and he’s ready to go play the next play. He demonstrated that on the road a couple weeks ago.”
What allows DeSean Bishop to have monster second halves, and what can the offense do to establish the run earlier?
“Gotta play smart football. That’s a huge part of staying ahead of the chains, not changing the way third downs are played, or not even getting to the third down. There’s a lot of controllables that we control in the run game, in the pass game. The efficiency of it matters. That can be communication on run game. It could be double teams, whatever. Pass game being more efficient. Protection’s a part of that. But there’s a totality to the run game, too. Occasionally you might get somebody out of a gap and crease a big one. But usually your run game’s gonna continue to grow and improve as the physicality goes through the course of the game.”
How has the team gotten more physical through this stretch of the schedule?
“Part of it’s the mentality, attitude, part of it’s your body being prepared for it. I said that after the ball game. Our work week is pretty consistent in what we’re doing. Good teams continue to get better throughout the course of the year. And to do that, you’re gonna get scout work, but you gotta go some good on good too. We control and manage those things, and some of it’s holistically by the one offense or the one defense, but some of it’s based off of where each individual is at coming off of a ball game too, and where they’re at in the middle of the week.”
What was Brayden Rouse’s explanation on the muffed punt, and did officials say whether he was pushed into the ball?
“Doesn’t matter if he gets pushed into the ball. It’s a live ball. At the end of the day, all the little things that we talk about, preach in our coaching or should be coaching are part of how plays play out. And the communication from returner to everybody on that unit getting away from the football, he thought potentially that the ball had been touched by one of our guys, and that’s why he was a little bit in no man’s land as far as actually getting on the ball or trying to scoop it. At the end of the day, we have to be better as an entire unit in that situation.”
Is the defensive line’s unselfishness a product of personnel, culture or both?
“Well, I think it’s a credit to Coach [Rodney] Garner, Coach AJ [Andrew Jackson], everybody that’s in that room that you can cultivate and develop that type of approach from everybody inside of the room. I think it has continued to grow because they’ve seen the success of it. But it’s also a credit to our players buying into it from the very beginning.”
What do you see in South Carolina’s defense, including Dylan Stewart?
“Extremely athletic on the edges. Not just Dylan, but their edges have the ability to make a dramatic impact on the football game. So that’s in the run game, it’s in the pass game. Obviously, the ability to apply pressure to the quarterback. They’ve been really good against the run, not giving up many yards, not giving up many yards per carry. It’ll be another big test for us up front.”
How is MacIntyre improving week to week and cleaning up mistakes in the pass game?
“Yeah, he’s continued to grow. I’ve said it before, every rep that a young quarterback gets, and it’s true of older ones too, they continue to grow, get better, understand space, timing, bodies in motion, moving around, better feel for the pocket, all of those things. So he has continued to grow.”
Did you bring up the last trip to South Carolina with the team, and what did you emphasize?
“I did this morning. Understand the type of environment you’re getting into, understand the approach of your opponent, and you’re stepping into a ring. You better understand your opponent and be prepared to be your physical, mental and emotional at your peak.”
Have you had any dialogue with Coach Inge since shouting him out after the game?
“Not like him with the entire team. I’ve had dialogue with him. A lot of our team has, too. He was excited about that result, but he’s also watching some South Carolina film, too.”
Are SEC upsets a case of teams playing above their potential, falling below their standard, or something else?
“I think the level of competition, the difference in talent level, whatever it might be, I just think the margins are small. You don’t play smart football, you turn the ball over, games turn really quickly. Winning is fragile.”
