Paul Finebaum calls Tennessee the team people should be paying attention to, praises Josh Heupel
ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum made an appearance on KJM, where Keyshawn Johnson asked him which team in college football is not being talked about enough and should be receiving more attention.
“I think it’s Tennessee, Keyshawn I’m sure you’ve seen this team, this is an absolute joy to watch,” Finebaum said. “They beat Florida the other day, it was a sloppy win in the end, and I don’t think they got the credit because Florida has been devalued. But they had lost 16 out of 17 to the Gators, so at Rocky Top that’s a big deal.”
Tennessee’s 38-33 win over Florida this weekend lifted them to a No. 8 ranking in the latest AP Poll and made them one of the few remaining undefeated teams in the country.
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Another one of those teams is Kansas, who’s having an improbable turnaround under second-year head coach Lance Leipold, but Finebaum believes Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel deserves his recognition as well for the job he’s done in Knoxville.
“And I know Lance Leipold’s getting a lot of attention, and he deserves it in Kansas, but when you look at the two year job Josh Heupel was done, it’s hard to find anyone who’s done better. I mean he inherited a program that was an absolute disaster, it looked like they were about to throw away the key and put Tennessee out of business after Jeremy Pruitt ran it into the wall,” Finebaum said.
Heupel was handed the keys to a 3-7 program the year before his arrival, with a team decimated by players leaving via the transfer portal. But in his first season last year, he led the Volunteers to a 7-6 record, followed by their first 4-0 start this season since 2016.
“But fortunately for Tennessee, Heupel has really steadied it and he’s a much better coach than a lot people gave him credit for. He was at UCF, he replaced Scott Frost there and he didn’t get very much credit because the program slipped a little bit, but he’s been unbelievable,” Finebaum explained. “His offense is as fun to watch as any in the entire country.”
The Volunteers offense isn’t just fun to watch, it’s effective, as they currently lead the nation in total yards per game with 559.3 per game and rank second in passing yards per game with 365.8. They’re led by dual threat, star quarterback Hendon Hooker, who led the Vols in passing and rushing in their most recent win over Florida.
Tennessee’s hot start may deserve more attention, but you won’t be able to catch them in action this weekend with the Vols having a bye. Tennessee takes on LSU on the road in their first game following their bye, followed by a highly anticipated week 7 matchup at home versus No. 2 Alabama, in a potential game between two undefeated, high-powered SEC opponents.