What Josh Heupel said about Vols being ranked No. 1 in CFP Top 25

It took Josh Heupel just 21 career games at Tennessee to take his team to the top of the College Football Playoff Top 25. That’s where the Vols made their debut when the CFP Selection Committee released their first ranking Tuesday night.

Heupel, while making an appearance on ESPN’s CFP Top 25 show, said he never but a timeframe on what has quickly turned into a rapid rebuild.

“I think that’s one of the things that actually had our players buy into what we’re doing,” Heupel said. “We never set a ceiling. Obviously our guys’ habits have allowed us to play really consistently here in the early part of the season.”

Ohio State was No. 2 and Georgia, Tennessee’s opponent on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: CBS) at Sanford Stadium in Athens, came in at No. 3.

“When you look at the three teams (Tennessee, Ohio State and Georgia), all three very, very good teams that the committee liked, I think the two (Tennessee) wins you’re looking at, with Alabama and at LSU, really sealed the day for Tennessee,” Boo Coorigan, the College Football Playoff Selection Committee chair, said Tuesday night.

Alabama came in at No. 6 in the CFP ranking while LSU was No. 10.

“There is a long ways to go,” Heupel said. “Obviously we’ve got a huge test this week in Athens, Georgia. But I love competing with this team every Saturday.”

Vols set for showdown Saturday at Georgia

Georgia is No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 while the Vols are tied with Ohio State at No. 2. Tennessee won 40-13 at LSU on October 8, its last road game, before knocking off then-No. 3 Alabama 52-49 a week later at Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee is looking to snap a five-game losing streak against Georgia.

“For any offense that goes on the road,” Heupel said, “it’s a little bit different in your communication. You have to be super efficient. You have to communicate extremely well. Obviously you’re going to be on a silent count. That’s something that we use here at home as well. 

“But it will be important for us to get the chains moving and stay ahead of things and not let the crowd get into it in some of those third-and-long situations.”

Offensively, the Vols have scored 30 or more points in 11 consecutive games, the longest current such streak in college football and the longest in school history. Redshirt senior quarterback and Heisman frontrunner Hendon Hooker has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 19 straight games, including 14 to Jalin Hyatt, another single-season record for the Vols. 

Vols turning a corner on defense

Defensively, Tennessee leads the SEC and is 14th nationally with 16 forced turnovers. The Vols have nine interceptions, leading the conference while No. 22 nationally. 

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis was picked off three times in a 44-6 loss at Neyland Stadium last week. The Wildcats had just six total yards in the third quarter and were held to just 205 total yards.

“We will be (great) as we continue to build this,” Heupel said. “Two years ago we were hit heavy by the transfer portal when I was hired … we’ve continued to build our roster on that side of it and really believe in where we’re going. Got a great defensive coordinator in Tim Banks, great staff. Our players are really bought in in Year 2 in our system, where they have a much better understanding of our schemes. 

“But they’re continuing to develop fundamentally and we’re continuing to get better throughout the course of this season. We’ve been hit by the injury bug in the backend here in the first half of the season, but we really feel like this week we’ll be as healthy as we have been all season long.”

The toughest test of the season awaits on Saturday at Georgia. The defending national champion Bulldogs have the No. 2 scoring defense in college football, giving up just 10.5 points per game. Georgia is No. 4 nationally against the run and No. 13 against the pass.

“It starts with the personnel,” Heupel said of Georgia’s defense. “They’re long, they’re fast, they’re physical on all three levels of their defense. If you get in third-and-long situations, they make it extremely difficult to pick up a first down. Obviously they’re well coached and have good schemes, too. 

“There’s going to be a lot of one-on-ones that we’re going to have to win. Out on the outside, in the middle of the field, on the line of scrimmage, too. You’ve got to be extremely physical during the course of this game.”

Heupel wants Vols to ‘embrace it’ as No. 1 team

Heupel, who has acknowledged this season that it’s impossible for players to tune out the outside noise, addressed his team this week about the rankings that were coming out Tuesday.

“We didn’t know where we would be ranked,” he said, “but we figured we would be somewhere near the top. At the end of the day one of the things that our players have done here is we’ve tried to enjoy the journey. Take moments to pause and reflect and enjoy what our players have built here. They’ve built this. 

“Three years ago, it didn’t look like this. But this is a proud tradition, a massive fanbase that loves the Power T. They’re excited about the way our players are playing. Embrace it. 

“They understand the reason we’re in this situation, because of the way we prepare, the way we practice. Then we go play for each other on game day. It’s going to be the same message this Saturday.”