KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Despite an impressive top-10 win over rival Alabama on Saturday, No. 11/11 Tennessee has quickly shifted its attention to what will be another challenging road test coming up this weekend when it travels to Columbia take on a confident and rested South Carolina squad coming off its open week.
Head coach Josh Heupel was quick to mention in his weekly Monday press conference the importance of moving on from last week’s win and being laser focused on the task at hand this week.
“Obviously, going to South Carolina this week, facing a football team that’s playing really well,” Heupel said. “You look at their ability to go on the road two weeks ago against Florida and come away with the win. They play extremely well, all three phases of the football game.
“Understand the environment, what we’re getting into, and we need to prepare; be elite in our preparation. Them having a bye week last week, an extra week on us, we have to make up that ground in our preparation and practice well to get ready to go play smart football on the road here to get a win.”
All year long Heupel has preached about having a week-to-week mindset and the importance to treating each game as its own season.
“I’ve said it to our football team, I think I’ve said it 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, you’ve got to play,” Heupel said. “The margins are just, they’re small, they’re tight. A play here, a call there, can make a huge difference. So, you’ve got to be on the right side of it in your preparation.”
The Gamecocks have been particularly impressive when it comes to their defensive front and the ability to limit their opponent’s ground game, so it’ll be a battle of strength when the Vols’ productive rushing attack led by DeSean Bishop takes the field at Williams-Brice Stadium this Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
“Extremely athletic on the edges … 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,” Heupel said when asked about what he’s seen from South Carolina’s defense.
A full transcript of Heupel’s Monday press conference can be seen below.
Head Coach Josh Heupel Transcript (Oct. 19)
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’ve got to 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. They play extremely well, all three phases of the football game. Understand the environment, what we’re getting into, and we need to prepare; be elite in our preparation. Them having a bye week last week, an extra week on us, we have to make up that ground in our preparation and practice well to get ready to go play smart football on the road here to get a win.”
On the starting quarterback position moving forward…
“George has played smart and efficient, like a lot of what he’s done. You guys will figure it out as we get to game day.”
On winning emotional games and turning the page to the next opponent…
“I’ve said it to our football team, I think I’ve said it 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, you’ve got to play. The margins are just, they’re small, they’re tight. A play here, a call there, can make a huge difference. So, you’ve got to 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 of those things with our team this morning.”
On his coaching point on Mike Matthews’ blindside block…
“Yeah, you can’t do it. You know, 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 to our team today; we have to play smarter. I love the mentality, attitude and toughness that he demonstrates every play, but we’ve got to play smarter as a football team.”
On making in-game adjustments as a staff overall…
“Overall, feel like we’re making good in-game adjustments. You know, 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 the best position to be successful.”
On Cooper Ranvier’s kicking performance against Alabama…
“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.”
On DeSean Bishop’s second-half success during games and establishing the run in the first half…
“Got to play smart football. That’s a huge part of it. 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 going to continue to grow and improve as the physicality goes through the course of the game.”
On the continued physical growth and performance during recent games…
“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 going to get scout work, but you got to go with 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.”
On Brayden Rouse’s turnover on special teams…
“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, and are 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.”
On the defensive line playing unselfishly…
“I think it’s a credit to Coach 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.”
On what he sees in South Carolina’s defense, particularly in Dylan Stewart…
“Extremely athletic on the edges. Not just Dylan, but their edges have the ability to make a dramatic impact on the game. That’s in the run game, it’s in the pass game, and 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.”
On how he has seen George MacIntyre improve from week to week…
“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 and get better. They understand space, timing, bodies in motion, moving around, better feel for the pocket, all of those things. He has continued to grow.”
On Tennessee’s history at South Carolina and if he has mentioned the 2022 matchup to the team…
“I did this morning. Understanding the type of environment you’re getting into. Understand the approach of your opponent. When you’re stepping into the ring, you better understand your opponent. Be prepared to be at your peak physically, mentally, and emotionally.”
On any communication with linebackers coach William Inge…
“Not 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 was also watching some South Carolina film too.”
On whether SEC teams have been playing above or below their potential in previous weeks…
“I think the level of competition, the difference in talent level, whatever it might be; the margins are small. If you don’t play smart football, you turn the ball over, games turn really quickly. Winning is fragile.”
