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Josh Heupel on buzzer-beating win over Alabama: This is college football at its absolute best

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•10/15/22•

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At the midseason point of the 2022 college football season, Lance Leipold, Josh Heupel and Lincoln Riley are early Coach of the Year favorites for their conferences. (Page/Getty Images)

After 15 long years, Tennessee fans can light their cigars. The Volunteers defeated Alabama — and Josh Heupel had an emphatic reaction after the game.

“Rocky Top, this is college football at its absolute best,” he told CBS’ Jenny Dell.

Neyland Stadium was rocking all day long as the No. 6-ranked Volunteers took on No. 3 Alabama Saturday afternoon. All 102,000 people in attendance saw a thriller as both teams traded scores all game long. But one team had to come out on top, and thanks to the leg of Chase McGrath, Tennessee fans got to celebrate.

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“Our team competed 60 minutes,” Heupel said amid the field-storming. “These fans were phenomenal. What an environment, man.”

It’s hard to state what the win means for Vol Nation. Tennessee’s last victory over Alabama came in 2006 — one year before Nick Saban arrived at Alabama. The Volunteers started out hot on offense and never looked back, putting up more points than any Saban opponent during his time at Alabama.

For Heupel, the second-year Tennessee head coach, he knows fans have waited a long time for a night like this.

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“It’s about this team, for our former players, our fans,” Heupel said. “We know what this means.”

Dell didn’t even have to ask what Heupel plans to do to celebrate.

“I’m going to light a cigar tonight,” he said.

Inside the numbers: Tennessee vs Alabama

Despite big performances from quarterbacks Bryce Young and Hendon Hooker, it was Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt who stole the show. He had six receptions for 207 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Volunteers offense. Hooker went 21-for-30 for 385 yards while Young — in his first game back from a sprained shoulder — completed 35 of 52 passes for 455 yards and two touchdowns for Alabama.

With the win, Tennessee improves to 6-0 on the season for the first time since 1998 and picked up its first top-five win since 2005. It’s also the Vols’ first top-10 win since 2006, which puts into perspective just how long fans have waited for this type of victory.

Now, Tennessee will try to follow up the win over Alabama next week with a break from SEC play. The Volunteers welcome UT-Martin to Knoxville Oct. 22 at noon ET on the SEC Network.