Josh Heupel talks NIL, Missouri during Thursday's press conference

Everything Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said on Thursday, previewing his fifth-ranked Vols (8-1, 4-1 SEC) hosting Missouri (4-5, 2-4) on Saturday (Noon Eastern Time; TV: CBS) on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium:

MISSOURI’S DEFENSIVE FRONT

“You can’t do things that hurt yourself in this ballgame, for sure. The physicality. They play vertical on the line of scrimmage. Loaded boxes on tape. We have to be physical. Our combinations have to be right. Our identifications have to be right. That’s going to be absolutely critical in this football game. Tight ends have to do a great job of it as well. They’re always a part of the game when we’re in 11 personnel sets. And then I think our running backs have to be extremely physical in this football game, too. They’re much improved on the defensive side of the football. You look at them statistically, you look how the games have played out, the last two thirds of the season, the video you see. It’s a group, I’m talking about their (defensive) unit, that continues to get better and more comfortable in Year 1 with a new defensive coordinator.”

MISSOURI’S OFFENSE

“I think they’re getting better. Their quarterback (Brady Cook) is playing with more confidence. You’ve got to do a better job with all the eye candy, the window dressing that they do. Motions within their run game. If you don’t have great eye discipline, you’ll be out of a gap and they’ll have the opportunity to create a really big play. For us, again, I was just talking about us on the offensive side, the line of scrimmage is going to be really important in this game. They’ve got really good skill players out on the perimeter, too. They’re athletic, they’ve got speed. They’re dynamic with the ball in their hands. You’ve got to do a great job of tackling in space. If you can get them in third down, you’ve got to do a great job of applying pressure on the quarterback.”

No. 5 Tennessee vs. Missouri, Saturday, Noon ET, CBS

THE SPYRE SPORTS COLLECTIVE AND THE VALUE ITS ADDED TO THE TENNESSEE FOOTBALL PROGRAM

“NIL is a huge part of the landscape now. From the moment the ruling changed, you’ve heard me say how important it is. As a player, as a former player, the opportunities I would’ve been afforded. I think our players have handled it in a really positive way. Can’t underestimate at all the importance that Spyre has had in providing our players opportunities. It’s life-changing for them and it’s huge part of the success as we continue down this road as a program. That’s a huge part of it.

“I think we’re uniquely situated. The Power T, this fanbase, the city that is Knoxville. The opportunities that can be and are afforded to our players, to me, this is the No. 1 destination in NIL opportunities. You can see it as we’ve grown as a program, the power and the opportunities that have been provided with our current roster here. How they’ve had an opportunity to grow their image. Spyre Sports, their ability to help our players, what they’ve been able to do, what they will continue to do, that’s a huge part of the success and they’ve done a phenomenal job.”

HAVING FAST STARTS IN NOON GAMES, IF THIS TEAM PRACTICING IN THE MORNINGS HELPS THAT

“I’ve been at other places where you didn’t practice in the morning and early kickoffs, 11 o’clock central, you’d be able to start fast, too. Certainly practicing in the morning, it’s a normal routine for our guys as far as the wake up and getting ready to go play. As much as anything, it’s operating extremely efficiently. We haven’t played at our best. Not all the time you play good teams that are going to make plays too, but a lot of it is self-induced. So we’ve got to limit the mistakes that we make and go out and play extremely aggressive. If it starts really fast in this one, that’s awesome. You have to keep your foot down on pedal. If it doesn’t, that’s ok, too. You’ve got to reset and regroup and do a better job of it than we did a week ago.”

Vols ‘ready to respond in a really positive way’

WHAT HE’S LEARNED FROM THIS GROUP OF TENNESSEE SENIORS

“At the beginning of the week, you guys kind of questioned this group, how would they respond to it (the Georgia loss). You look at all the obstacles, the hurdles, that this group has gone through, it tells you about their resiliency. Their ability to grow and focus. To take correction. Just the DNA of who each of them are and how they’ve responded to anything that has been thrown at them however long it’s been now, 20 months or whatever that I’ve been here. The ability to see them grow, there’s so much that is inside of our building because of who these guys are. It’s a class that I’ll remember forever. But a group of guys that accepted me, accepted our staff and allowed us to get off and running really quickly.”

JABARI SMALL’S STATUS

“Jabari has been with us all week and he’ll be ready to go.”

DYLAN SAMPSON’S DEVELOPMENT

“Sometimes just how the game unfolds dictates whether or not a younger guy gets in. We’ve got great trust and confidence in him. As a young player, I do believe he gets better every single week. And all the things that it takes to play that position at a really high level. He’s in the ballgame, we’re not going to do anything different. We’re not going to call it differently. We’ve got great trust in him.”

TENNESSEE’S OFFENSIVE LINE’S RESPONSE FROM THEIR PERFORMANCE AT GEORGIA

“They’ve been really good in the meeting space, in the building, at practice. They’re a proud group. Obviously we didn’t play our best football last week. I think they’re ready to respond in a really positive way.”