Tennessee football improved to 8-1 (5-1 SEC) on Saturday night by knocking off a struggling Mississippi State team 33-14 at Neyland Stadium.
The Vols built a two-score halftime lead and held on in the second half with backup quarterback Gaston Moore filling in for the injured Nico Iamaleava.
Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed Boo Carter’s big game, kicker Max Gilbert bouncing back and more. Here’s everything Heupel said.
More From RTI: Josh Heupel Provides Nico Iamaleava Injury Update Following Win Over Mississippi State
Opening Statement
“Another SEC win. A good win. Proud of the way the guys played for four quarters. Competed hard, played physical. Obviously, offensively, some things early in the football game, have an opportunity to change the way the game is played. Just not efficient, really. Second, third down, there’s little things that lead into the fourth down that we don’t end up converting on. But all in all, a really good night. Proud of the way the guys responded. Gaston (Moore), the way he played, the young running backs getting an opportunity, played really well. Defensively, just gave him a couple of runs, but all in all, great night. I think they were really good on third downs again.”
On updating the injury for Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava
“We anticipate having him ready for next week. So (it was a) precautionary measure at halftime. So feel like we’ll be ready to roll next Saturday.”
On Tennessee scoring a touchdown on its opening drive for the first time since Kent State on September 14
“It was good to go score, it was. There’s a lot left out there for us. But played hard. Continued to play smart through the course of it.
On Tennessee having a veteran, confident backup at quarterback in Gaston Moore
“Good to see him go operate the way that we know he can. He’s a smart decision maker,. Aggressive when it was time. Controlled everything from clock, play calls, checks. Did did a really good job. So when the guys found out he was going in, they were excited for him and they believed him. And they went out and played the way they needed to to make his job easier for him to do.”
On having an elite Tennessee defense to lean on when injuries happen on offense
“Absolutely. The ebbs and flow of the game in the second half, where you’re able to score, push the the lead a little bit, and defense get a stop, turnover. It changes the way you’re forced to play a little bit. In particular, on third down, but Gaston did a really good job in all of it.”
On Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert bouncing back by going 4-for-4 on field goals, after missing five of his last six over the last two games
“Wasn’t that awesome for him? The outside noise, you can try to ignore it and it’s pretty hard to do in today’s world. Talk about a competitor, resiliency, coming out and putting it between the uprights. Awesome for him, doing the things we’ve seen him do in practice. Great job by him. The long one (51 yards) was a great kick.”
On Boo Carter’s big game, him serving as punt returned
“Boo’s dynamic, athletic. Just as a young player, how he’s continuing to grow where you trust everything that goes into it as a returner. That’s essentially the quarterback back there and commanding and controlling and being a decision maker. Just continue to grow. Saw tonight, man, he’s dynamic with him in his hands. So it was awesome to get that from him tonight. And Boo as a young player is just gonna continue to get better and better in all areas. So I’m really, really proud of what he’s done in a short amount of time here.”
On what Mississippi State did to have success in the run game
“Got downhill. We were out of gaps. Some of that was just in out base front coverage. Some of it was pressure off the edge and we’re not playing it the right way. So they hit us on a couple, but I thought we’d continue to get better throughout the course of the night.”
On if Boo Carter did anything specifically in practice to earn starting punt returner responsibilities
“I think I said it to you guys earlier in the week, but you just keep stacking days and weeks. And it doesn’t always happen when you want it to happen, but it will happen. I think Boo, just consistency really over the last month has really gained the trust from from everybody on your staff for him to go operate the way he did tonight in that position.”
On Tennessee running it successfully against heavy boxes on its touchdown drive to make it 30-14
“Had some eight man fronts tonight, and we’re trying to find ways to create some angles for us and control some extra defenders on the backside within their structure. But at the end of the day, big guys up front moved some people. Andour tight ends were a huge part of it all night long as well. And obviously, the running backs ran pretty well.”
