Josh Heupel's bye week motivation for Tennessee: Last season's upset at Arkansas

Motivation isn’t a problem for Josh Heupel during Tennessee Football’s bye week. When asked about just that on Wednesday, all he needed to do was go back to this same weekend last year. 

“We can point to last year,” Heupel said, “and the way that we played coming off of the bye week.”

Tennessee was a perfect 4-0, ranked No. 4 in the country and headed to Arkansas as a two-touchdown favorite. The Vols were two weeks removed from an emotional 25-15 win in Heupel’s return to Oklahoma and were beating opponents by an average of 47 points per game. 

The Razorbacks were 3-2 through five games, coming off a loss to Texas A&M in Dallas the week before, after losing 39-31 at Oklahoma State three weeks before that. 

Tennessee trailed 3-0 after a sluggish first half at Razorback Stadium, woke up with two touchdowns to take a 14-3 lead midway through the third quarter, but were done in by the go-ahead touchdown scored by Arkansas with 1:17 left.

Arkansas fans stormed the field as former Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava ran out of bounds on the final play of the game. 

‘Win or lose, it’s dealing with what the reality is and how you get better’

Heupel hasn’t forgotten any of it. If anything, he was reminded of it last week, when the Vols had to rally with a touchdown with 1:55 left at Mississippi State, forcing overtime and escaping with a 41-34 win in Starkville.

“You look at last week,” Heupel said, “excited and happy about the way we competed. Went and played the next play, next series, went and finished the game. But there’s a lot of things that we can do a lot better. That’s in every phase of the game, but certainly offensively and special teams. 

“And whether you win or lose, it’s dealing with what the reality is and how you get better.” 

Up Next: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Arkansas, October 11

Arkansas looks completely different a year later. The Razorbacks have lost three straight after getting blown out 56-13 by Notre Dame last week in Fayetteville. Head coach Sam Pittman was fired on Sunday, replaced by former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. 

A day later, Petrino fired three of his defensive coaches, meaning the Vols will face two new coordinators when Arkansas comes to Tennessee next Saturday (4:15 p.m. Eastern Time, SEC Network).

“You dive as deep as you possibly can,” Heupel said of preparing for the new-look Arkansas staff. “I think it will be important for us schematically, one to communicate and adjust on the field, but two on the sidelines — staff and players together. (They) had a ton of success last year and … we’re looking to adjust to anything else we see.”