Josh Heupel addresses accusation of Tennessee using fake crowd noise at Neyland Stadium
Josh Heupel hadn’t heard about the accusation that Tennessee uses fake crowd noise at Neyland Stadium, but he still addressed the situation Wednesday when asked during his bye week press conference.
“Neyland doesn’t need anything fake piped into the stadium for that to be the loudest place in America,” Heupel said. “Hopefully our fans take that personally, enjoy this bye week and come back and be louder than ever next time we’re at home.”
No. 7 Tennessee (6-1, 3-1 SEC) is off this week, before hosting Kentucky (3-4, 1-4) next week in Knoxville.
Alabama radio play-by-play broadcaster Chris Stewart said Saturday during the Crimson Tide Sports Network broadcast that the Vols “also pipe in crowd noise” on top of the 101,915 capacity at Neyland Stadium.
“Second-and-16 is not what you’re looking for,” Stewart said during Tennessee’s 24-17 win over Alabama, “especially with the noise level being what it is here.
“You’ve got 100,000-plus and they also pipe in crowd noise as well.”
Up Next: No. 7 Tennessee vs. Kentucky, Saturday, November 2
A Tennessee spokesperson on Monday confirmed that the Vols do not use fake crowd noise. The only noise coming through the speakers during a home football game is music between plays or the public address announcer.
“No, we don’t!” Tennessee athletic director Danny White wrote on social media on Monday. “Just 100K+ beautiful, booming, Big Orange voices!”
Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln also addressed the topic Monday during an appearance at the Knoxville Quarterback Club.
“That stadium, when it is rocking, is better than any other environment in the country,” Abeln said. “It truly is an impact on our game. We got people down, I guess, down in Alabama calling in and saying we’re pumping crowd noise in there.
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“I am telling you, it is not. I have been places where they do pump in the crowd noise. It is 100% legit in that building.”
Nico Iamaleava on Saturday threw the go-ahead touchdown to Chris Brazzell on a 16-yard slot fade to the back of the end zone with 5:52 left in the fourth quarter Saturday, lifting Tennessee to the 24-17 win over Alabama, giving the Vols back-to-back home wins in the rivalry.
Defensively Tennessee held Alabama to 314 total yards, with just 75 rush yards on 34 attempts.
Jalen Milroe completed 25 of 45 passes for 239 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Tennessee safety Will Brooks picked him off on Alabama’s final possession to seal the win.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: ‘It was a great crowd that we just played in front of’
Tennessee has had an elite home-field advantage at Neyland Stadium during the Josh Heupel era. The Vols have won 17 of their last 18 home games and are 22-4 at home under Heupel dating back to the 2021 season.
“We do got to acknowledge that it was a great crowd that we just played in front of,” Milroe said after the game. “One of the greatest crowds in the country. So it’s on us to control our controllables, understand our assignment, understand our snap count and understand what we need to do so that we can move forward when playing games like this.
“… Now we can reflect, now we can understand what it takes to win games like this and understand what we need to improve on. So, I thought today was very important for us.”
