Josh Heupel expresses confidence in Vol fans to make things tough on Anthony Richardson, Florida

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel expects 100,000 screaming fans this Saturday night as the Volunteers welcome rival Florida to Neyland Stadium. The Gators ride quite a winning streak vs. the Vols entering this weekend, having bested them 16 of the last 17 times. Sheesh, that’s pretty dominant in favor of Florida.

So time to turn that streak on its head for Heupel and co. But with the playmaker the Gators have at quarterback, Anthony Richardson, the Tennessee coach knows he’ll need his home field advantage working at max volume.

Here was Heupel this week, singing the praises of the QB coming to Knoxville this weekend.

“You know, [Richardson] has got the arm to push the ball down the football field. They have playmakers on the outside. You know, his ability to to be a factor in the run game. And that can be quarterback designed run game, that can be read game and that could be him scrambling outside of the pocket when his reads aren’t open. He’s got the ability to create huge plays in the run game. We got to bottle him up in the pocket and not let him get out. We got to do a great job of tackling him in space. And it’s, you know, his combination of athleticism and size that is rare at that position.”

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Based on Josh Heupel’s description alone, you’d think Richardson was Frankenstein with the feet of Usain Bolt. But the point is clear: Heupel has total respect and admiration for Richardson as a player.

But it’s his first road start of the year coming off two rocky performances at home. A loud crowd, perhaps the loudest in the nation, could rattle him enough to give the Vols defense an extra boost. Heupel certainly has high expectations for the crowd.

“You know, they can be an issue at times and so crowd noise — I can’t imagine that this won’t be the loudest stadium in the country on Saturday. Cannot imagine that it wouldn’t be that way. And it was loud last year at times and certainly here in the early part of the season. But I expect it to be absolutely electric for 60 minutes.”

Should be an electric 60 minutes on Saturday. In the stands and on the field.