Josh Heupel likes how Tennessee has responded heading into Florida week

Tennessee hit the ground running on the practice field on Monday following Week 2’s 30-13 victory over Austin Peay. The Vols begin Florida week as confident as ever as they continue their winning ways under head coach Josh Heupel.

“[We had] good energy out on the grass with them today but really good in the meeting room, too,” Heupel said on Monday. “Anticipated that from these guys. We have strong leadership. Guys care about their performance but they care how they get there, too.

“I said it after the game — I didn’t feel like we didn’t prepare the right way. But at the end of the day, we weren’t on the right side of the competitive edge to go play the way we’re capable of. With that being said, there’s a lot of things that we did really well over the course of the game. I thought the effort, strain, energy, technique on special teams was really good and defensively we played really sound the majority of the football game.”

Six different Tennessee defenders ended up with a sack during the contest and held the Austin Peay rushing attack to 79 yards from scrimmage on 23 attempts — good for 2.3 yards per carry. Senior DB Kamal Hadden came up with an interception during the matchup to round out a strong defensive performance.

Meanwhile, Heupel’s up-tempo offense cut up the Austin Peay defense for 228 yards on 32 carries (7.1 yards per carry) that was led by Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small, who nearly nearly totaled 100 yards a piece by themselves during the matchup.

Quarterback Joe Milton wasn’t a major factor on the ground, but punched in the only rushing score of the game from six yards out. He had 228 passing yards and two touchdowns on the night as well.

“Offensively, we ran it for dang near eight yards a carry and had some efficiency in the pass game too,” Heupel said. “Penalties, in the red zone in particular, dropped balls, hitting a couple more passes lead to a different score. Certainly one that we all want.

“Those are all things we control but I thought it was a big point of emphasis today with our guys— control the controllables, which is what sits in that room and how we prepare.”

Kickoff between the Volunteers and Gators is set for 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN. Tennessee has opened the week as a 6.5-point favorite on the road, per Vegas Insider.