What Josh Heupel said after No. 21 Tennessee beat No. 17 Iowa 35-0 in the Citrus Bowl

Everything Josh Heupel said after No. 21 Tennessee beat No. 17 Iowa 35-0 in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Monday afternoon at Camping World Stadium in Orlando:

Opening Statement

“Proud of our team, our program. I thought during the course of our preparation that they were very intentional, focused when we were in the meeting room, out on the practice field. They were engaged and they competed hard. That was true in our preparation back home, and it was true while we were here. And they enjoyed the bowl festivities. At the same time, they came out and played, the right way, prepared the right way. Proud of the performance. 

“You look defensively on the line on the line of scrimmage, handled the running game, really the entire day. Matched things out on the boot game and got off the field on third down. The front applied pressure throughout the course of the game. James (Pearce) did an unbelievable job the entire day. Obviously, everybody saw the pick. He was in the backfield all day, after the quarterback all day long. 

“Offensively, efficient enough. Nico (Iamaleava) played really well. First-time starter. There was nothing that was too big for him, never got rattled. Very composed, in control of the communication, in control of the run game, just did an unbelievable job — decision-making and the plays with his feet as well. 

“End of the day, all three phases well together. And that was a challenge for us going into this one. That’s a really good football team that we played today. It had a tremendous amount of success this season, but Coach Ferentz, great amount of respect for who he’s, how conducts his program.  A great way to finish the ‘23 season and to kick off the ’24 (season).”

James Pearce’s performance, being more versatile moving forward for Tennessee’s defense 

“Yeah, James has got a great football future in front of him. He’s great player right now, but he’s got a chance to be extremely special. And for him, just continuing to grow in his understanding of football IQ as we continue to move him around and put him in positions to win is gonna be extremely important as we go through this offseason. He’s dynamic, he’s got multiple moves to affect the quarterback. But there’s still growth in some of those fundamentals and continue to grow in how he defends the run. He’s going that well, but there’s still some growth there. I say all of that, he’s a dynamic playmaker for us. He’s really rare, got a really bright future in front of him.” 

How Nico Iamaleava’s play against Iowa impacts his outlook for Iamaleava moving forward

“I believe he’s gonna be a great dynamic player. And I know that. I thought he handled himself really composed all day long. Subtle things, little things, breaking the huddle, communication inside of the hall, controlling the run game. His eyes went in the right place. Great to see a young guy go out and perform in that way in his first career start. There’s a lot of things that Nico can continue to grow and grow in. The challenge early in the football game was guys playing at a really high level around him, too. I didn’t think we played as well as we were capable at times around him, but we got great confidence in him and that quarterback toom. We got great confidence in those young players. A lot of guys got an opportunity to play a lot more football today than they had. And a lot of them played extremely well. But it also showed some things where they’ve got an opportunity to grow and how those things impact our game unfolds. And I’m really excited about who’s in that locker room, who’s coming back, and where we have an opportunity to go in ’24.”

The decision to redshirt Nico Iamaleava during his freshman season at Tennessee

“End of the day, for the quarterbacks and the guys at every position, you don’t have a ‘like, listen, you’re strictly going to redshirt and won’t play in anything other than the four games’ until you’re on the very end of the season because of the way the game unfolds and injuries that take place. 

“And Nico’s been one play of away in the entire season from having to carry the load the rest of the way home. And just continue to fight as a competitor. I’m really pleased and proud of the way that he has handled his preparation every single week. I think he’s gotten better throughout the course of the season in understanding the urgency and that preparation. That’s a huge part of the reason he went out and played the way he did today.”

Tennessee’s interception in the end zone

“Special teams, we did not field the punt. We got backed up. We have a couple other penalties. We end up missing the ball on the rugby right. They got a short field. Great play by ‘Dre undercutting it in the back side, extension, hands. Great to see him go perform the way

that he did. That was a huge play and changed the dynamics of the game early in the football game and huge play. 

The interception returned for a touchdown by James Pearce

“Yeah, that wasn’t bad, was it?  Let me tell you, great job understanding the formation, where the bodies are at, what type of release he is getting. Ability to take his eyes, undercut the route, and athletic enough to go make a play. He is on the JUGS a couple times a week just to make sure that he is ready for that opportunity. You might have asked why at one point in your career,  but it is for that moment, and nothing looks better than seeing a big man like him run down the sidelines.”

What type of statement this win makes for the Tennessee program

“The finish to the ‘23 season is the kick off to ‘24. I think it speaks to the culture that we have inside of our building, our locker room. Speaks to the type of competitors that we have that buckle their chin straps and wear the Power T on the side of their helmet.  You look at all of the young guys that got so many meaningful snaps today. I think it speaks to the future being extremely bright. There’s a lot of things that we’re going to need to reset and grow from when they come back in January. Every season starts over, but it’s a group that I love being around and if we can continue to be great teammates, care about the people around us more than we care about ourselves, we can pour into each other, we compete extremely hard every single day, while having as much fun as we possibly can the future’s extremely bright. The challenge is great. The standard is to win championships at Tennessee. Nobody shies away from that. We got to continue to grow to put ourselves in position to do that.”