The Tennessee Volunteers are preparing for a pivotal matchup this week as it will be the third Saturday in October. That, of course, means the Vols are facing the Alabama Crimson Tide in one of the best rivalries in not only college football but all of college athletics. Both teams enter the game 5-1l with a lot on riding on the game.
The Volunteers come in ranked 14th in the nation, and Alabama enters ranked 6th. As it has in recent years, this game will have massive implications for the College Football Playoff and the SEC landscape. The Vols will need to be playing their best football to beat the Crimson Tide, and preparation has already begun.
Head Coach Josh Heupel spoke to the media about this upcoming matchup and this is everything he said.
Josh Heupel’s Opening Statement
“Good afternoon. Third Saturday in October coming up here and great opportunity. Playing a really good football team. You look at how they're playing, all three phases of the game. Huge test for us. But one we're looking forward to. So, encourage our fans to take advantage of half priced half happy hour and get hydrated for the football game on Saturday afternoon.”
Josh Heupel on Who the Starting Quarterback Will Be
“We'll find out here through the week. So, we get on the grass tomorrow and we'll work towards Saturday.”
Josh Heupel on How Live Reps Help a Quarterback Prepare
“It certainly helps. It helps everybody. The more reps you get, the better prepared you are. You know what I mean? Having gone through the looks and made those throws.”
Josh Heupel on George MacIntyre’s Performance After Going Back and Reviewing the Tape
“Yeah. I thought he was decisive with the football. He was going to the right spot. Made some plays. Did some things inside of the pocket that were really positive. You know the third down makes a guy miss, keeps his eyes down the football field. Collectively as a group we got to do a better job taking care of the football. We got to play smarter and not make it more difficult on ourselves to pre-nap penalties whatever it might be. So, a lot to clean up collectively as a group but he did a good job.”
Josh Heupel on What Makes Alabama Such a Huge Test
“Yeah. They are much more efficient, effective running the football. Quarterback's dynamic player you know he's throwing extremely efficiently, bunch of yards but extends makes plays with his feet. Scramble to run but also throw the football down the field if you're not matching things out. So, you know, us defensively, massive test and them defensively, big, strong, physical up front, second level, very active. They've made it difficult to run the football and not giving up a ton of explosives. They've gotten their hands on a bunch of balls, created turnovers as well.”
Josh Heupel on DaSaahn Brame
“Yeah, I think his best football is still ahead of him. Anticipated him being in playing a bigger role than he did a year ago. Just maturity, growth, understanding of what we're doing offensively. Ethan goes down, that role is going to, we knew it was going to continue to increase. He's done a really good job in the pass game but has done a good job without the ball in his hands as well. And feel like he's playing really well.”
Josh Heupel on How the Offense Handled Arkansas’s 5-3 Look
“Well, in general, we had some opportunities to make some plays down the field. Did at times didn't. There are some things in the run game that we got to be better at. The five down look isn't something that we haven't seen previously before, but all in all, I think the biggest thing offensively for us is how do we not change the situation on our own and that's, you know, missed assignment, its penalties, where we're playing behind the sticks.”
Josh Heupel on What Made the Difference in the Run Game in the Fourth Quarter
“Efficiency, it's blocking, its guy making the guy miss. It's a combination of all guys doing their job at a really high level.”
Josh Heupel on How to Get the Run Game Going Quicker
“Well, sometimes the run game, it doesn't just pop right off the bat. There's a totality to the run game, the physical nature of the game, too.”
Josh Heupel on Radarious Jackson Having Some Quite Games
“I really like the way Radarious has played. Sometimes, you know, just coverage, situations, whatever it might be, the ball doesn't find your way to him. And he's done a really good job, though.”
Josh Heupel on if Braylon Staley Stepped Out of Bounds
“On the coach's footage, it looked like it was close. You know, the official threw the hat right away when he thought he identified it.”
Josh Heupel on TK Keys and Travis Smith Jr.
“Yeah, continuing to grow and develop. Both those guys got some snaps the other day and you know, just the flow of the game. it played out the way that it did but anticipate those guys playing this Saturday.”
Josh Heupel on DaSaahn Brame’s Confidence After Making a Big Play
“Yeah, I think he was confident before he made that play. But it can certainly continue to spur that on.”
Josh Heupel on the Continuity of the Offensive Line and Nic Moore
“Yeah, some the continuity, yes. There are some things that we got to do better up front. There's things Nic has got to do better, but holistically, it was good enough to get a win. We're going to need to be better up front in this one.”
Josh Heupel on Why Arkansas Was Able to Have Success Running in the third Quarter
“Yeah. Gap integrity, block destruction, tackling fundamentals all go into to how you play. So, you got to be consistent in that.”
Josh Heupel on Tennessee Getting Looks from Teams That are Not on Previous Tape
“I think there's, always, you know, week to week some subtle tweaks that, coordinators going to throw in there off of what they're seeing. Less extravagant departures from structure than maybe in the previous years.”
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