Everything Josh Heupel said on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday

Head coach Josh Heupel on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday previewed No. 21 Tennessee (7-3, 3-3 SEC) hosting No. 1 Georgia (10-0, 7-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, CBS) at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement

“Hey, hope everybody’s having a great day. The team is excited about the opportunity that we had early in the week when they first came back on Monday. Obviously disappointed with the performance of the weekend. But love the energy and focus that they’ve had so far. We understand the quality of the opponent that we’re getting ready to face. You look at Georgia, first of all, they got really good personnel in all three phases of the game. They play extremely smart, they play hard, they’re physical. Their line of scrimmage on both sides is really good. 

“Defensively, again, you look at their ability, the way they defend the run. But they got great personnel on the back end. During the course of this ball game, we’re gonna have to win some one-on-one matchups out on the perimeter. But that’s also true in the core offensively. You look at them and they’re operating as efficiently and as explosively as anybody in the country. Great playmakers out on the perimeter. They’ve gotten some of their best skill players back and they look healthy. Quarterback is playing extremely well. He has been a great decision maker. He’s controlled a lot at the line of scrimmage for them and really everything that they’re doing. So their ability to maintain and have balance offensively is something that is critical, a big part of their success. And we gotta do a great job of defending them. 

“And their special teams have been really good as well. So huge test for us this week. Excited to get back back home. Been a while since we had a conference game inside of our stadium. Looking forward to this one on Saturday afternoon.”

What Tennessee coaches have seen on film in terms of the progression of Georgia’s offense over the course of the season

“I think their ability to operate really effectively and efficiently in everything that they’re doing offensively is a huge part of it. If the numbers are right, they got the ability to run the football, but they are explosive on the outside. The quarterback has been extremely accurate with the football. First-time starter for them, a quarterback. And that typically means that those guys continue to grow throughout the course of the season. And he certainly has. I think the fact that they’re getting close to being a hundred percent with the skill players too, has allowed them to continue to grow offensively as well with the pieces around them. They’re a really good football team. They were good at the beginning of the year. They’ve continued to get better throughout the course of the season. That’s what good teams do and they certainly represent that.”

If Tennessee coaches have had to adjust how they treat players during the transfer portal era

“I just think from the time that I started or even when I was playing to now, the relationships, being engaged with them consistently, not just on the practice field, is important to them being at their best. So I think that’s just naturally a big part of it. I don’t think it changes the way that you coach, the things that you demand from them. If you do any of that, then you’re doing your program a disservice. I think it’s important that young guys, even in the recruiting process, you’re finding guys that understand there’s a process to the growth of becoming the player that you want to be. It doesn’t just happen. So having those conversations, making sure that they’re getting reps in practice so that they see that they’re having an opportunity to improve is certainly extremely important as well.”

Crowd noise making an impact in Tennessee’s game at Georgia last season and what he expects at Neyland Stadium this season 

“I expect it to be as electric atmosphere as we’ve ever had there, which is as good as there is in college football. And crowd noise can have a factor in the football game if you don’t do things, control the controllables and operate and communicate effectively during the course of the game. Some of that happened to us last year. We need to make it extremely difficult for them to communicate, that needs to be a part of the football game. And I certainly expect to see our crowd ready for this one when we kickoff.”

Tennessee players sensing the magnitude of this game, this late in the stadium

“I think they you can sense that this is a big one because of who we’re playing in this one. And our guys have been great. They’ve been resilient really from the time that I’ve gotten here. We got guys that are extremely competitive, focused and compete hard and (they) practice the right way. And the leadership that we have on the team is a huge part of that. You mentioned Jacob Warren, he’s been a dynamic leader for us, certainly this year, but even before that too. And this is the next one that we have inside of our home stadium and the only opportunity that we got this week. So we need to go take full advantage of it. And I believe our guys are focused.”

Tennessee’s depth at linebacker without Keenan Pili and Arion Carter

“Well, I certainly wish we had those two guys with us during this journey this year. Two really good football players. Unfortunate with KP, just as early in the season as it (happened). And AC’s injury, an old injury that just kind of snuck up on them. Looking forward to getting AC healthy. But I do like the guys that we have inside of that room. They’ve been urgent in their preparation. There’s some things that we gotta continue to get better at. But we’re gonna need all those guys on Saturday afternoon. Will be a really physical football game.”