Josh Heupel ‘really disappointed’ with Tennessee loss vs. Missouri

Disappointed is the word that came up over and over for Josh Heupel following Tennessee’s 36-7 loss at Missouri on Saturday. There wasn’t much for the Volunteer’s leader to be happy about after what took place in Columbia, specifically on offense.

Heupel expressed his frustration during his postgame press conference after the 29-point loss to the Tigers. While he gave Mizzou their flowers, he couldn’t get past the less than ideal performance from his own team from the opening kickoff and on.

“Give credit to Missouri. They played well,” said Heupel.

“Really disappointed in the performance of our football team,” Heupel said. “Didn’t like the way we finished the ball game. We didn’t play smart enough, good enough early in the football game to win this one.”

At that point, Heupel dove into all the Tennessee shortcomings, specifically on offense. That included their play in the trenches, their penalties, and their inability to answer what their opponent was doing on the defensive side.

“Line of scrimmage? There was a stark difference, said that early in the week that that would be a pivotal part of the football game and they were able to run the football. We weren’t,” Heupel explained. “Offensively? We didn’t have the efficiency that you need to to go and score points. Disappointing.”

“Disappointed in the performance offensively. Their structure was a little but different than what we anticipated, personnel on the defensive side. Didn’t think we responded, reacted well on the first drive,” continued Heupel. “Just really disappointed. We weren’t able to continue drives. Offensively? You look at the first half outside of the drive and the beginning of the second half? There’s huge penalties that put in 1st & 20 or 2nd & 20. Multiple turnovers on that side of the 50-yard line too. Tough to overcome. Really disappointed.”

The seven overall points were, far and away, the worst offensive output for the Volunteers in Heupel’s three seasons in Knoxville. It was also clearly their worst rushing game of the season as the first time they hadn’t cracked 100 with just 83 yards. Add in three turnovers, including a pick six, and nine penalties for almost 100 yards and it was an a disaster for Tennessee’s offense on Faurot Field this weekend.

There’s no rest for the weary, though. While the matchup isn’t now as pivotal as it could have been, the Volunteers will still need to bring their best, or at least better than they brought to Missouri, for a game with Georgia next weekend.