Watch: Josh Heupel talks College Football Playoff in locker room after Tennessee win at Vandy
Josh Heupel had one question for his Tennessee Football team after its rally to win 36-23 at Vanderbilt Saturday afternoon at FirstBank Stadium. What do the Vols want to be about in the College Football Playoff?
“What do we want to be about in the postseason?” Heupel asked in a social media video from the locker room. “Right? What do we want?”
Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 SEC) was down 14-0 in a little more than five minutes against Vanderbilt (6-6, 3-5). The Vols gave up a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the game, then Dylan Sampson fumbled at the Tennessee 21-yard line on just the second offensive snap.
The Commodores recovered and got back in the end zone six plays later to take the 14-0 lead with 9:48 left in the first quarter.
“I challenged you guys yesterday,” Heupel said in the locker room, “and really throughout the week. Man, it couldn’t have started any worse. And you know what? Competitive composure … the good, the bad, the ugly, everything in between, you just kept coming.
“That’s what elite people, that’s what champions do, man. You just keep coming.”
Job's not finished. pic.twitter.com/1pnwLnvAK9
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) November 30, 2024
The Vols answered with points on five of their next seven possessions, including a 91-yard touchdown drive to tie the game in the second quarter and a 96-yard touchdown drive to go ahead for the first time with 22 seconds left before halftime.
Tennessee led 24-17 at halftime and built the lead to 36-17 with a touchdown, field goal and safety in the second half.
With the win, the Vols seemingly clinched a spot in the 12-team College Football playoff. They were ranked No. 8 and seeded ninth when the selection committee updated its ranking and bracket on Tuesday.
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The postseason is what Heupel was focused on in the locker room after the game.
College Football Playoff First Round: December 20-21
The official 12-team College Football Playoff bracket will be set next Sunday, after another ranking update Tuesday night.
The first round of the playoffs will be held in three weeks, with one game on Friday, December 20, and three games on Saturday, December 21. The winners will advance to the quarterfinal round.
“Hey, what do we want to be about in the postseason? Right? What do we want?” Heupel asked. “I know we’re going to play physical. We play smarter in our execution, alignment, assignment, technique, the details.”
“But it’s gotta be all in. Everybody invested. Like, every minute of the day. Because you’ve been working since January. This was the goal.”
“But man, like, take a minute, enjoy this thing,” Heupel added. “Enjoy it tonight … and then we got to get physically healed up as good as we can to go play our best football here in a couple weeks. Everybody got me?”
