Tennessee's Josh Heupel isn't taking the bait on Oklahoma questions
Josh Heupel held his weekly press conference Monday afternoon but that wasn’t his only time behind a podium. He had to take questions at the Knoxville Quarterback Club, too, even if he wasn’t going to answer all of them.
He wasn’t about to take the bait on a question about No. 7 Tennessee’s game next week at No. 16 Oklahoma, Heupel’s homecoming at his alma mater.
“That’s a long ways from now,” Heupel told the QB Club when asked about the game. “That’s the following Saturday, but hopefully Vol Nation shows up in Norman in a big way.”
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Kent State
The buildup will happen in a big way next week, after the Vols (2-0) get through Kent State (0-2) on Saturday night (7:45 Eastern Time, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium.
Oklahoma will make their debut as an SEC team against Tennessee and Heupel, the former Sooner transfer quarterback who led OU to a national championship while on his way to a runner-up finish for the Heisman Trophy.
He later spent nine years on the sideline at Oklahoma, too, coaching quarterbacks and spending four years as co-offensive coordinator under head coach Bob Stoops, before Stoops fired him in 2014.
Heupel landed on his feet at Utah State, entered the SEC as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Missouri in 2016 and 2017, then was hired at UCF as head coach in 2018.
Since then he’s won 57 of his 77 games as a head coach, including a 29-12 record through 41 games at Tennessee, where he was hired in January 2021.
But much will be made next week about everything that happened at Oklahoma, before, during and after his firing.
It’s been a talking point since July, when Tennessee players were asked about it at SEC Media Days in Dallas.
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“My biggest expectation from that is just a great environment,” Tennessee redshirt senior center Cooper Mays said at the time. “I’ve personally never been to Oklahoma, and I’ve never played there either obviously. Really looks like a great environment.
“Great team. We expect it to be a great game and really excited just to see what that stadium and everything has to offer.”
‘We need to do to in order to go 1-0 that week’
Tennessee is off to a fast start after a 69-3 win over Chattanooga to open the season on August 31 and the 51-10 throttling of North Carolina State Saturday night in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte.
The Vols on Sunday leaped up to No. 7 in the Associated Press Top 25 and to No. 9 in the Coaches Poll.
Oklahoma opened the season with a 51-3 win over Temple at home, but struggled Saturday night with Houston in a 16-12 win. The Sooners host Tulane this week, the third of four straight home games to open the season.
“It’s going to be a great game, a great atmosphere,” Tennessee defensive tackle Omari Thomas said during SEC Media Days. “Energy will be high. We just have to go in and know that we need to dominate as a team. We need to play our best football.
“We have to prepare well. We have to come in, do everything we need to do to in order to go 1-0 that week.”
