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Josh Heupel shares emotions as Tennessee survives thrilling finish against Florida

by:Austin Brezina•09/24/22•

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In This Week in Coaching, Josh Heupel steals a page from Mike Leach’s playbook, Dino Babers’ fast start at Syracuse and Nick Saban sends a message to his Alabama football team.(Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Saturday’s rivalry matchup against Florida came down the final moments, and Tennessee coach Josh Heupel shared how it felt to come away with the win. The No. 11 Volunteers took down the No. 20 Gators 38-33 in Knoxville after a heated game between SEC rivals that saw plenty of emotional moments.

With the game seemingly wrapped up late, Florida completed a drive for a touchdown and missed the two-point conversion that would have made it a three-point game. With only 17 seconds remaining in the game, Florida recovered their onside kick attempt and were poised for a miraculous comeback. After getting into range for a potential Hail Mary pass, the Tennessee defense got to Anthony Richardson before he could throw — as his pass fell harmlessly into Tennessee’s hands for the interception and the win.

Josh Heupel on beating Florida

After the game, Heupel commented on how exciting the win was in front of their fans and what winning the rivalry game between two ranked teams means.

“How much fun is this man? I love it, kids competed,” said Heupel immediately after the win. “Man, battles all night long, fans were awesome. Environment’s better than anything I’ve experienced. What a win.”

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Early in the game, Heupel had an injury scare with quarterback Hendon Hooker after a sack-fumble saw him go straight into the injury tent for further evaluation. Hooker missed no time on the field however, and led Tennessee to 576 yards of total offense in the win. Josh Heupel shared high praise for Hooker after the win against Florida as well, praising his energy and ability to lead.

“He was electric all night long. Unbelievable job throwing the football. Used his speed opportunistically. Man, he just competed man. Everybody fed off his energy on the offensive side of the ball. Hell of an effort by him tonight.

“This is just the beginning of this journey with these guys. But I absolutely love our football team man. They compete really hard, they practice great, they love one another … this is college football as good as it gets man. Rocky Top’s back, let’s go!”