Josh Heupel considers how Tennessee can improve after loss

Florida brought Tennessee back to reality on Saturday, as the Volunteers fell to the Gators under the lights.

The Volunteers had designs on getting to the College Football Playoff in 2023. However, those plans became much more difficult due to their performance against Florida. Josh Heupel isn’t giving up hope though.

Speaking with the media afterwards, the Tennessee head coach explained what his team needs to work on moving forward, following their demoralizing loss.

“They are capable of it, absolutely. But we’ve got to be better,” Heupel said, regarding Tennessee’s chances at bouncing-back. “We’ve got to go back to work and continue to grow.”

Alas, Tennessee showed the ability to bounce back after losses last season, but much has changed in less than a year. Nobody should count out the Volunteers, but they certainly have a steep hill to climb at the moment.

Time will tell if Josh Heupel and company are built for it, as they continue their SEC schedule in 2023. Tennessee entered the season with a ton of hype, but it could dissipate before it ever gets the chance to rise once again.

Paul Finebaum seriously concerned about Tennessee after loss to Florida

Continuing, Paul Finebaum pointed out that things haven’t been easy for Tennessee in SEC play following their loss to Florida, and that should be a concern for Volunteers’ fans.

“I think that was Tennessee’s third loss in its last five SEC games,” Paul Finebaum said, via The Matt Barrie Show. “Remember the South Carolina game last year? You have to be a little, not a little, seriously concerned if you’re a Tennessee fan because I sat with some of the experts yesterday and they told me, ‘Joe Milton, he’ll be fine.’ Well, he wasn’t fine.”

Finebaum is referencing back to the 2022 season, where Tennessee went 2-2 in its final four SEC games. That included losses to Georgia and South Carolina. It was in the South Carolina loss when starting quarterback Hendon Hooker was injured and Joe Milton took over for him.

Through three games, Tennessee is 2-1. For his part, Milton has completed 63.9 percent of his passes this season for 716 yards and six touchdowns to only one interception. Still, there are concerns that the Volunteers are too inconsistent in the passing game.

“End of the day, we’ve got to go make some plays. That’s throwing it a little bit better. That’s catching it a little bit better. There’s big chunks of yardage in open grass for us to go make,” head coach Josh Heupel said, addressing those concerns.

“Joe would tell you he’s got to hit a couple of those. We’ve got to make the play out on the perimeter. Some subtle things, fundamentally, that can help you be more accurate with the ball, but we’ve seen them operate in that, we just didn’t execute it very well early in the football game.”