Josh Heupel: How Tennessee flipped the switch after loss to Florida in the Swamp

Tennessee took one on the chin in their fourth game of the year. Florida whupped the Volunteers in Gainesville, 38-14, to drop UT to 2-2 on the season, while the Gators went on to a dreadful finish to their year by program standards. However, Josh Heupel’s group only improved following the loss. Tennessee turned the ship around the rest of the way, going 5-3 to finish the regular season, with the losses coming to championship participants Alabama and Georgia as well as Sugar Bowl-bound Ole Miss.

At SEC Media Days, Coach Heupel was asked what exactly changed after that rough loss at Florida. Here was his answer:

“Yeah, I just think in late third quarter there’s some things we did, self-inflicted wounds, that changed the way that game was played in the fourth quarter,” he said of the game.

“As a program, a young program, you have an opportunity to learn from it, grow, and push forward and really climb, or it’s something that can be devastating. It’s one of the moments inside our staff and program that changed the trajectory of the program.”

“Sat in the team meeting room, were able to dissect and show them not the entire game, but the key moments of things that we controlled that had nothing to do with anybody that was wearing a different colored jersey that impacted the game and the way it was played.”

Instead of further spiraling, Tennessee rebounded and performed much better as the year wore on.

“Through that I think they gained confidence in who they were, what we were doing. We were able to compete and grow throughout the course of the season.”

Tennessee results following Florida loss

Of course, UT went on to score 107 combined points in its next two games. Both wins over SEC East rivals as they thumped Columbia-based schools Missouri and South Carolina. Then they fell to Ole Miss. Which surely you can all recall. Since Vols fans rained mustard bottles and golf balls onto the field as the game ended.

Then they sandwiched a win over Kentucky between losses to the national champion and runner up. And they ended the regular season with another pair of wins where they exceeded 100 combined points.

Afterward UT earned a trip to the Music City Bowl, where they fell in a barnburner, 48-45, to Purdue. All told, a solid first year for Josh Heupel ahead of the Tennessee program.