No. 15 Tennessee football grabbed a 24-17 win over Arkansas. It was their first win in Fayetteville since 2001. The way the win was made was not pretty by any means. Tennessee did more to win, and Arkansas lost the chess match.
Arkansas head coach Ryan Silverfield put trust in his defense by not being more aggressive late. Tennessee made them pay, and DeSean Bishop finished the game off strong with 88 yards in the Vols’ last two drives. That included the winning touchdown run with 2:00 left. Bishop finished the day with 19 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown.
After, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel spoke to the media. Below is everything he had to say.
Opening statement
“Proud of our team. It’s been a long time since this program’s won here. Talked about it during the week. It’d be a four-quarter ball game. There was a lot of things we gotta do better in beginning, middle parts of the game, but I love how we finished in the last quarter and change.
Win the football game, outscore ’em, I think 17 to 3. Guys were resilient, kept competing. Defense was lights out in the first half. Offensively, had some drives, missed a field goal, some things we don’t execute. Just little things. We gotta play smarter and not change the situation, some of the penalties offensively.
Special teams were solid all day. But third quarter, both sides of the ball don’t start as fast as we need to. However, at the end of it, competitive composure, keep competing, and find a way to win. Proud of the group for that. And you can see in this league, every Saturday is a new season. Find a way to be the best team on the field and keep improving and keep on moving.”
What did you see from George’s play, and did he get better as the game went on?
“I don’t know that he was getting better as the game went on. I do think he finished really strong. But there were some really good things early in the football game, too. This game comes down to the finest of details. Right before half, the fumble, he’s just gotta clear the back. That’s something that’s day one. But I thought he did a really good job in some adverse situations, just playing the next play and pulling the trigger, and it was a winning performance by him ultimately.”
What was the talk on the sideline before the 94-yard game-winning drive, and what did DeSean and the offense show you?
“Competitive composure, just going and playing the next play. Defense gets a stop. There’s a chess match, you know what I mean? It’s going back and forth. Able to hit some runs, hit a couple throws, and ultimately get in the end zone.
Great effort by DeSean, obviously. But collectively as a group, all 11 did their job on that drive, and that’s what it takes. When it’s not going good, it’s not typically major things that aren’t going good. It’s all 11 settled in, doing their job at a normal high level of execution. When it was going good today, that’s what we did. When it wasn’t, just a little bit off.”
What does it say about Radarious to chase down that play?
“Huge play. Changes the game. It can change your season. It’s actually something that, through our experience, we’ve talked about, shown to our players. That’s why our offensive guys are gonna be involved in tackling at some point during the course of the offseason. It’s a big-time play, just continuing to compete, get a guy down, and it’s a seven-point play that ends up negating all of it, and it’s a straight wash walking in at halftime.”
Did your team learn how to win in a different fashion by coming back from deficits and finding a way in the fourth?
“I think they showed that they are resilient, and no matter what the circumstances, they’re gonna continue to play and go play the next play. That’s why it happens today. Again, proud of our group handling it that way.”
Are there similarities forming between this team and the team from two years ago, with the defense, the ground game and a young quarterback?
“If you look holistically at the style of play, yeah, there’s some similarities. But football, it’s about constant growth, and this is the result of last week’s work. The challenge for us as a staff when we get back in the office tomorrow, and the challenge for our players on Monday, is how do we push forward and continue to grow?”
Two years ago Arkansas grabbed momentum late by running downhill, and it happened again early in the second half, but you outscored them 17-3 in the last quarter and a half. What’s the difference between then and now?
“I think some of it is the competitive makeup, competitive composure, going and playing the next play. Defense didn’t start as fast as they wanted to in the third quarter. Offensively certainly didn’t either. But the look in their eyes was, ‘We’re gonna go play the next play,’ and it’s a credit to our players and our staff to have that type of mindset.”
What was the message to the defense after giving up back-to-back touchdowns?
“As they’re coming off, there’s a lot of clock. Whether you’re up or down, it’s 0-0 for 60 minutes. Play each play independently and go continue to compete. That’s what they did.”
With Arkansas struggling and Alabama coming to town next week, how much did the team’s struggles have to do with looking ahead to Alabama?
“We gotta take it, we gotta own it, period. This league, keep looking at the scores. Every week’s its own season. The margins are small. You’re playing good players, you’re playing good coaches. The margins, you gotta be on the right side of it.”
What did you see on the play-action shot to DaSaahn and his run after the catch?
“Play action, a little eye candy to hold some of the interior. They’re playing their post safety extremely deep in our 12 personnel stuff today, and just playing off of one guy’s eyes, and DaSaahn does a great job wrapping it on the back end. Good throw by George. Really good run after the catch by DaSaahn too.”
When was Faizon ruled out, and what’s his status moving forward?
“With what he was dealing with, he really didn’t rep during the course of the week. George knew on Monday that he was gonna start this week. We’ll continue to play it by ear as we keep going. The strength of one room can never be one guy. I know most of you guys are tired of me saying that, but that’s the truth of it, and we’ll keep growing and going.”
Being benched can be hard on a young quarterback, but Faizon was the last player on the field celebrating with fans. What have you seen in how he’s responded?
“Faizon’s dealing with an injury. George handled it well when Faizon got named the starter, and Faizon’s handled it well dealing with his shoulder. Continuing to stay invested at practice, in the meeting room, helping that room out, and is here for emergency use only this week.”
Xavier Gilliam keeps making plays even when he’s double- and triple-teamed. Are you amazed by what he’s doing?
“Smart, tough, relentless competitor, loves ball. He’s the same dude every day in the meeting room, on the practice field. That parlays itself into playing consistently on game day too, and he’s been playing extremely well. Holistically, as an entire D-line, those guys are doing a really good job of, for the most part, controlling the line of scrimmage, affecting the quarterback, and playing well off of each other within the scope of the scheme. Proud of that group.”
How big was George stepping up on third-and-7 late in the third quarter to hit Braylon Staley and set up a field goal, for the game and for his growth?
“At that point in the game, it was critical, and we’re able to get points out of it. There’s some things on third down that we didn’t execute. That’s all 11. And then there’s some things that we did at a really high level too that were able to keep us on the field and allow a couple of those drives to get points. That’s a point of emphasis. We gotta continue to grow in our third downs.”
Closing statement on Coach Inge
“I got one more thing. Coach Inge faced a ton of adversity and was really fighting for his life, and it kind of came out of nowhere. There’s a lot of people that have been praying: our football family, the university, but our fans too. Sometimes it’s rare in this world that you get to see a true miracle right before your eyes. But that’s truly what we’ve been able to see following Coach Inge, and that’s what his family has seen too.
He’s doing really well. He should be able to get out of the hospital here in the middle of next week, hopefully, and begin his rehab process. If you ever question the power of prayer, anybody that’s seen this can attest to the power of prayer. So I just wanna thank our ball family and people across the country inside of college football that have had him in their prayers. Very thankful that he’s coming out the other side of it.”
