Tennessee football clinched its spot in the College Football Playoffs on Saturday afternoon, defeating Vanderbilt 36-23 in Nashville.
With the victory, the Vols improved to 10-2 (6-2 SEC) to earn their second 10-win regular season in the last three years. Before Josh Heupel arrived in Knoxville, Tennessee hadn’t won 10 regular season games in 20 years.
Following the game, Heupel met with the media where he discussed overcoming a terrible start, Nico Iamaleava turning in his best performance of the season and much more. Here’s everything Heupel said.
More From RTI: Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson Breaks Single-Season Rushing Record Against Vanderbilt
Opening Statement
“Just proud of our football team. All week we talked about finishing the regular season the right way. And got to be a man to do that. And we prepared the right way, practiced the right way. We sure didn’t start the right way. The competitive composure, belief in the guys around you, just kept fighting and flipped the game there in the second quarter and early third. Defensively I thought we did a great job bottling (Deigo Pavia) up all day long and the run game, and really limited in their pass game until the late drive in the fourth. Offensively, after the turnover early, settled into the ballgame and maximized our opportunities for the most part. Just a good football game. Special teams, some things that we can do better. But again, you just look at the work these guys have put in, proud of them to go finish and play the way that they did here. And it’s a good team that we just got done playing. Look at their scores against some of the best teams in America and realize that. Great way to finish the season. Really proud of our guys.”
On if Tennessee being a veteran team helped the Vols overcome the slow start
“I think this team as a whole, one of its greatest strengths is its competitive makeup and the resiliency, the ability to just go play the next snap. It’s something that we talk about. We try to emulate throughout the year, not just during the season. But it’s a mature group of competitors and certainly our veterans are older leaders who operate that way. But our young guys have that competitive mindset too. It’s one of the strengths of this football team. It’s really special.”
On if what was on the line for Tennessee in this game made the postgame locker room celebration that much more special
“It’s finishing the way that we needed to and that we wanted to. It’s always sweet. And these guys earned the right for this to be a big game. They went out, they took it. Got to take it as a competitor when you’re in the arena. There’s a lot of fun inside of that locker room, absolutely. Can’t wait to get back and and see the rest of our guys.”
On how the grind of the SEC schedule prepared Tennessee for that kind of adversity at Vanderbilt
“Best league in America. Every road game is a real road game. It’s hard to win at home or on the road. The depth of this league, everybody’s got bigs up front, first two levels. They are long, big, explosive, hits are real. I already said that road games are real inside of this league. It’s hard to win. And the totality of the season, it’s different. And this is a special group to be able to kind of handle the ups and the downs, to keep competing to push forward. And to finish the season way that we have. Really proud of these guys.”
On if this game tested Tennessee’s depth more than any other
“I think this one probably tested it as much as any that we’ve had.”
On Dylan Sampson breaking Tennessee’s single-season rushing yards record
“I don’t even know if I have the right words to describe D-Samp and what he means to our team, just as a player and as a leader. But I don’t know if anybody’s played the position better than he has this year. He’s dynamic. Plays great without the ball in his hands. And talk about, when the ball is in his hands, making things happen. Dynamic plays, muddy threes and fours. He’s special, man. He’s played the position this year as well as anybody I’ve ever had.”
On Tennessee’s 10-play, 86-yard touchdown drive to take the lead just before halftime
“I thought with everything that had transpired early in the football game, being pushed back on that and to go execute and make it tight, and then being able to flip it there at the end was was huge. And Nico, I just thought he played really well throughout the course of the football game. He had the one throw that he’d like to have back. He just flattened out the throw, but man, he played really well today. Decision making, our tags, down the field throws, checking it down when everything was syncing out. Just thought he saw everything really well today. And then had the ability to to scramble and make plays, which is part of his game. Had some huge pulls in the run game off of edge defenders. Just played really good football today.”
On what he saw from Tennessee receiver Chris Brazzell
“Just (saw) the guy that throughout the course (of the season), he’s had a little bit of ebbs and flow, ups and downs. But, man, I just feel like he’s right on the brink of being what he’s capable of. And credit to him, the investment that he’s made, the opportunity today. I thought he just did a really good job of winning the one-on-ones, understanding coverage, settling down in zones. Him and Nico were on the same page. Chris played extremely well, but all of those guys really did. And a really good job by him all day long. That’s along those lines.”
On freshman receiver Mike Matthews
“Mike is a young guy that did a great job in spring ball. And gets hurt and missed too much time in training camp. And we just had to battle through that a little bit in the early part of the season. Been super consistent and a really good practice player, and I knew the last two, three games, you can just see it coming. And it’s a credit to him to just keep investing when it’s not necessarily exactly what you thought it would be and understanding that, man, there’s still a lot out there for him, and he played really good football today. Everybody’s gonna see the balls that were in his hands. There’s a couple things where, coverage didn’t take Nico to that side right away, but I thought he did a great job. And then he played without the ball extremely well. He had some big time perimeter blocks too that I thought he executed extremely well. He’s a tough nosed kid, man, and highly competitive. Got a great future in front of him.”
On players lifting Nico Iamaleava up, responding to adversity
“Man, quarterback ain’t ever gonna be perfect. Best ones I’ve ever been around. Guys that have have won Heisman trophies and guys that should’ve been in New York City that weren’t. Man, they don’t ever play perfect. I think I was the only one that ever played it perfect.
But quarterbacks, to me, you grade them based on how they respond to the most critical situations. And when it’s not going well, and that guys is a warrior, fierce competitor, you guys have heard me say it all year. He’s just gonna continue to get better. The veteran guys, their competitive composure, their ability to just go play the next play, It’s a tribute to who they are.
Yes. They’ve impacted the young guys that way too, but that team room, it really does. It’s got elite competitive composer to just go play. And some of that’s their makeup, some of that’s the belief in the guys on the other side of the line, I’m talking about the other unit that we have. Like, we know we got good players, and we know we’re gonna play— at some point, we’re gonna dig in and play well in all three phases. So it’s special part of the makeup of this team and proud of those guys.”
On Jermod McCoy’s circus interception
“Great players make great players. And (Jer)Mod, just he’s a playmaker. His best football is still in front of him. I know what I’m saying. But great athlete that’s continuing to grow in the fundamentals of the position, but his wide receiver skills as a high school guy, I think, are part of his makeup as a DB. When the ball’s up in the air, he doesn’t panic. He knows how to go and attack the football. He understands body position. Just an elite player.”
On taking control of the game with a double dip around halftime
“We had a few possessions where we were backed up for different reasons. The punter had banged the ball, and today, some of them just got on the ground. We weren’t in position to catch it. They got friendly rolls. I thought the end of the first half, finishing it, going and and getting seven, and then starting fast in the third quarter. It’s what happened to us early in the football game. It flipped quickly where you’re on the wrong side of it, and then we were able to flip it back. And the drive was an extended drive, drained some of the clock. It just changed the way the game was played down the stretch.”
On having more depth, playing more players this year
“It’s something that we were intentional, on the first half meeting after the bowl game last year, just talked about that we’ve gotta play more guys, and some of that— I’ve never really talked about it, never made an excuse for it. But when we got here, I think our first spring, 55 scholarship players, 28 scholarship reductions that we had to take. Like, there’s a growth to what we were gonna need to do as a program and intentional in growing those young guys, giving them opportunities early, making sure that we have the depth that we have. That’s our coaching staff, our young coaches. It’s everybody in the building investing in those guys, and then it’s those guys understanding that it’s a process. It’s a journey to getting to where you need to be to play championship caliber football. And it’s a credit to those guys for continuing to invest. And, obviously, we’re a much deeper football team and there’s not enough words to describe how much that’s meant to us in this conference schedule.”
On what it means to make the playoffs
“Next step for us as a program. And when I say that, we look at what we’ve been able to do since I’ve been here, especially the last you know three years, including this one. There’s an expectation from our staff and our players. It was a goal, but there was an expectation to be in this, and that comes from the work that everybody’s put in and who we have in the building. Proud of these guys for executing and putting us in a position to be there. Now the next season starts, what are we gonna do with it?”
