Coach Speak: Tennessee's Josh Heupel on Georgia

All week long, DawgsHQ has had you covered from the Georgia side of things in Saturday’s showdown between the Bulldogs and No. 18 Tennessee. However, thanks to our friends over at Volquest, we’ve also got for you what the head coach up in Knoxville had to say about Georgia. Below are comments from Tennessee coach Josh Heupel pertaining to the matchup against the Bulldogs.

Josh Heupel Opening Statement

We got a great opponent coming to town this week. You look at Georgia, they play extremely well. Smart football, physical football, all three phases of the game. They got dynamic play makers in all three phases of the game as well. So a huge test for us and we gotta have a great week of preparation to get ready for these guys.

Heupel on how Tennessee can get the run game going again against Georgia

“Yeah, part of it’s the way the game ended (against Missouri) and the type of scenario that you’re playing out. But a bunch of it is, you know, us doing a great job, communication, fundamentals, running backs pressing the hole, doing a good job of reading things too. It was a combination of all those things the other night.”

Heupel on the opportunity Tennessee has against No. 1 Georgia on Saturday makes it easier to move on from the Missouri loss

“Yeah, I think no matter what you do the previous week, you gotta put the game behind you. Certainly we understand the quality of the opponent is that’s coming to town this week. Our guys understand who they are, what they’re about and the way that they’re gonna play. Will be a great test for us.”

Heupel on how this Georgia compares to last season’s team

“They got really good players across the board. Defensively, big, strong, athletic upfront. They can run. They cover extremely well on the back end. They don’t miss tackles. You see ’em in in close quarters and in open space. They tackle extremely well. Offensively, they got dynamic playmakers. A few of those guys are just getting back and getting truly healthy right now. But the quarterback’s playing extremely well, really efficient and accurate. He’s done a really nice job.”

Heupel on SEC Teleconference

Josh Heupel Opening Statement

“Hey, hope everybody’s having a great day. The team is excited about the opportunity that we had early in the week when they first came back on Monday. Obviously disappointed with the performance of the weekend. But love the energy and focus that they’ve had so far. We understand the quality of the opponent that we’re getting ready to face. You look at Georgia, first of all, they got really good personnel in all three phases of the game. They play extremely smart, they play hard, they’re physical. Their line of scrimmage on both sides is really good. 

“Defensively, again, you look at their ability, the way they defend the run. But they got great personnel on the back end. During the course of this ball game, we’re gonna have to win some one-on-one matchups out on the perimeter. But that’s also true in the core offensively. You look at them and they’re operating as efficiently and as explosively as anybody in the country. Great playmakers out on the perimeter. They’ve gotten some of their best skill players back and they look healthy. Quarterback is playing extremely well. He has been a great decision maker. He’s controlled a lot at the line of scrimmage for them and really everything that they’re doing. So their ability to maintain and have balance offensively is something that is critical, a big part of their success. And we gotta do a great job of defending them. 

“And their special teams have been really good as well. So huge test for us this week. Excited to get back back home. Been a while since we had a conference game inside of our stadium. Looking forward to this one on Saturday afternoon.”

Heupel on what Tennessee coaches have seen on film in terms of the progression of Georgia’s offense over the course of the season

“I think their ability to operate really effectively and efficiently in everything that they’re doing offensively is a huge part of it. If the numbers are right, they got the ability to run the football, but they are explosive on the outside. The quarterback has been extremely accurate with the football. First-time starter for them, a quarterback. And that typically means that those guys continue to grow throughout the course of the season. And he certainly has. I think the fact that they’re getting close to being a hundred percent with the skill players too, has allowed them to continue to grow offensively as well with the pieces around them. They’re a really good football team. They were good at the beginning of the year. They’ve continued to get better throughout the course of the season. That’s what good teams do and they certainly represent that.”

Heupel on the crowd noise making an impact in Tennessee’s game at Georgia last season and what he expects at Neyland Stadium this season 

“I expect it to be as electric atmosphere as we’ve ever had there, which is as good as there is in college football. And crowd noise can have a factor in the football game if you don’t do things, control the controllables and operate and communicate effectively during the course of the game. Some of that happened to us last year. We need to make it extremely difficult for them to communicate, that needs to be a part of the football game. And I certainly expect to see our crowd ready for this one when we kickoff.”