What Josh Heupel said after Tennessee's 31-17 loss at Georgia

ATHENS — What Josh Heupel said Saturday night after Tennessee Football’s 31-17 loss to Georgia at Sanford Stadium:

Opening Statement

“Give credit to Georgia. They did what they had to do in the second half … loved the effort that we played with. Played physical. Just didn’t do enough, coaches and players together, to get on the right side of the scoreboard in the second half, obviously. But there are things in the first half, too, just being better at some of the things that you need to against a good team to win the football game. Too many big plays defensively we’ve given up. Offensively, some assignment stuff in critical situations that change the way the game is played. But I do love the effort and competitiveness that our guys played with. It’s got to be better.” 

Georgia keeping quarterback Carson Beck clean and that being a key to the game

“They did keep them clean. Yes, sir.”

What Georgia did to neutralize Tennessee’s defensive line

“Yeah, I have to go watch it and see.” 

What Georgia’s pass game was able to do against Tennessee’s defense, Carson Beck throwing for 347 yards and two touchdowns 

“Yep. They have big night. Created explosive plays down the football field. Some of them were contested plays. Some of them, guys are open down the middle. Playing really well early and then give up a a hard count where they got a free shot down the middle of the football field, make an explosive. They rubbed us a couple of times and got guys free, too. So all in all, just weren’t playing well enough. That’s assignment sound and then some of the technique too.” 

How pivotal the defensive facemask and 12-men on the field calls were to the outcome

“Pretty big.”

On his message to the team

“Man, this group practiced hard, prepared hard. They did a lot of the right things in the lead up to the game. Tonight,  what happens out on that field, that defines tonight. It’s the reality of it. You know? It’s the nature of being a competitor. Where do we go from here? Man, let it soak in. Let it hurt. Watch it. Grow from it. Get a next opportunity. You know what I mean? You got two more guaranteed, but the only one that matters is next week. So this group will continue to go. We don’t control what we don’t control. We control our preparation. We can control how we get ourselves ready to go play next Saturday. Got a good football team in that locker room, man. It’s a good football team. Got to coach a little better. We got to play a little better.”

When he knew Nico Iamaleava could play, his assessment of his performance

“Yeah. Our medical staff handled it throughout the week and, ultimately got cleared when we announced it from the player report or injury report, whatever they call it. But Nico. I don’t know what his numbers were. Man, he played well tonight, man. He really did. There’s some things that we’re close on. There’s some things we gotta be better in protection, keeping him a little cleaner, but I thought he played really well tonight.”

The toughness of Nico Iamaleava

“That guy’s a warrior, man. You know what I mean? He’s a young quarterback. Going to keep getting better, but, yeah, he’s a warrior, man. Guys around him play for him, believe in him. He’s tough, man.”

Where he feels Tennessee is at in the playoff picture

“I have no idea, man. All I know is this league, is college football as good as it gets. Like, it is. Teams get beat on the road sometimes. It’s hard to win, man, in this league. It’s a good football team that we just played. You know? Lost a couple of close ones on the road against good football teams. Had turnovers in that game. It’s a good football team. We’re a good football team, too.”

Reporter: “Josh, a follow-up on the facemask (penalty). When we watched the replay, like I mentioned, it looked like.”

Heupel: “Yeah, what did it look like?”

Reporter: “It looked like the back of the helmet popped off. We didn’t see a hand on the facemask. What was the explanation?”

Heupel: “Can you repeat that?”

Reporter: “It looked like his helmet popped up, but there wasn’t a hand on the facemask. Did they give you an explanation of why it was called?”

Heupel: “Next question.” 

Heupel: “You want to ask about the 12 men on the field?”

Reporter: “I would, yeah.” 

Heupel: “What did it look like? Okay.”