Josh Heupel explains when he'll know if younger players are ready for the spotlight

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel has already expressed throughout fall camp that some of his younger players will see a lot of playing time heading into their week one matchup versus Ball State. Heupel was asked about the uncertainty of playing inexperienced players, and when he knows if they’re ready for the big stage and bright lights of gameday.

“You play more guys because they’ve earned it and I do feel like we’ve got more guys that have been earning it just from our scrimmages and then the way that they’ve practiced. You’re going to find out a lot more about your young guys, guys that haven’t done it, when the lights come on for sure and is the stage too big, is it not, are they able to cut it loose and go implement and incorporate all the fundamentals, technique, and understanding of scheme and go make plays,” Heupel said.

Performance in practice is what gets you on the field during the game day, and Heupel seems confident that his younger talent has proven they belong out there, but he won’t truly know until they’re actually out there. For now, all Heupel and his staff can do is simulate game-like situations in practice the best they can and rely on their veterans to help bring the younger players along and give them insight on what to expect come game day.

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“We anticipate, we try to put them in those stressful situations at the end of the day game day’s its own thing and so we’ll find out a little bit more about those young guys for sure. Our veteran guys have been playing, you have a pretty good understanding of how they’re going to react to those situations,” Heupel said.

The Volunteers are looking to take yet another step in the right direction this season and improve their record yet again under Heupel. Hopefully for Tennessee, their younger, unproven talent can step up to the occasion and answer the bell while also leaning on their proven, veteran playmakers to stay consistent and lead them to an even better season this time around.