Josh Heupel Previews Kentucky: Everything Tennessee’s Coach Said

Opening statement

“Good afternoon, everybody. Excited. November. Best part of the year here, playing meaningful football and get an opportunity to come home. Dark mode, homecoming, first SEC night game for us and excited to get back into our stadium with our fans and playing a really good football team that is playing extremely well together. You look at their ability to win multiple ways, finish games. Turnover margin, they’ve been elite, one of the least penalized teams in the league, playing really smart in all three phases. So it’ll be a great test and one we are looking forward to.”

Will you wait to see how practice goes before naming a starting quarterback?

“Yeah, we’ll finish the week here at practice and get to game day.”

Is managing a team different in November than September, and how is your team equipped for that?

“I think you’re constantly trying to improve. You’ve heard me say it, good teams continue to get better every part of the season. Every week’s its own season, too. And so you’ve got to be great in your preparation, how you practice, put yourself in a position to play smart football. Certainly as you go through the year, injuries, where you’re at, all those things, you have to manage it really week by week. Tends to be more towards the end of the season. But for us this year, we had a bunch of injuries early in the year.”

How do you manage November distractions now compared to when you were just getting started?

“There’s always a ton of noise outside of your building. There can be a lot of things that you can get caught up in. If you get caught up in things that don’t matter, rankings coming out, whatever it might be, you have no chance to go finish and play the way that you need to every single week. We got one opponent this week. It’s Kentucky. It’s the biggest game of the year because that’s who we play. And we need to get ready to go play and focus on what we control. When you look at past results, controlling the controllables is a major factor in winning and losing. So we need to stay focused on what matters and get ready to go play good football.”

How did your team grow during the bye week?

“We’ll find out here as we get to game day. I thought we practiced well. They were intentional when they were in the building. Had some time this weekend to get away from it. When you have a bye week, I think that’s important. They were refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to go this morning. But we got to carry that throughout the week.”

What does your offense need to do to close games better, with Kentucky winning several one-point games?

“They finished extremely well. A couple two-point conversions to win. It comes down to doing ordinary things at a really high level. Communication, not hurting yourself with penalties, doing your job and 11 guys operating as one.”

What does your defense need to do to disrupt Kentucky’s success?

“Their defense has created a bunch of turnovers as well. A bunch of picks, gotten their hands on the ball. That’s been a big factor in their ability to win in this league, finish games the right way. Defensively, we got to control the line of scrimmage. You got to get them into third-and-long situations. You got to get them off the field. There’s a lot of eye candy, shift, trade, motion before the snap. So communication, all three levels of the defense playing in sync will be critical in this one too.”

How beneficial is an open date for self-scouting and adding wrinkles?

“You have the ability to do all those things. They get an extra week of preparation, just like we do, too, in this one. So that will be important for all phases of the game.”

Why has Kentucky risen to a top-10, playoff-contending team this year?

“Coach Stein, their staff, they’ve done a really good job. Some personnel that’s been there, they’ve added some personnel. But at the end of the day, I think the major thing is they’re playing smart football. They’re playing all three phases of the game, quarterback that doesn’t turn it over. They’ve created turnovers. That turnover margin is one of the best in the country. They’re a complete football team, offense, defense, special teams.”

What did you like from Javin Gordon at South Carolina, and how much can he and Daune Morris help lighten DeSean’s load down the stretch?

“Both of those guys can help be a part of it. JG, from the injury early in the season, I think week two, most comfortable, confident. Once he got into the flow of the game, most healthy that he’s been. We’re going to need him. We’re going to need Daune, all those guys as we go down the stretch.”

What stands out most about Qua Moss this season?

“I think it starts with just his competitive makeup. That’s how he practices every day. He’s a fierce competitor, extremely confident, but has great understanding of what we’re doing defensively, plays with fundamentals and technique, has the ability to play man coverage, understands zone principles, does a really good job against the run, perimeter screen, block destruction and going and making a play. He’s tackled extremely well. He’s a complete football player.”

TK Keys started against South Carolina but didn’t play much. What does he need to do to see the field more?

“Anticipated him probably in general playing a little bit more against South Carolina. I feel like he’ll play a good amount of football here down the stretch.”

How has Arion Carter grown in a different role this season?

“First of all, a great leader for us and has been historically a very mature player really from the day that he stepped foot on campus. I think in this defensive scheme, not getting spring ball because of the injury, the surgery, he’s continued to grow throughout the course of it, just in comfort, confidence and some of just the assignments. He’s continued to get better really every single week. He’s tackled extremely well, been able to apply pressure. So playing really high.”

What has driven Ty Redmond’s growth at cornerback?

“Got thrown into the fire a year ago with injury. Continued to grow and play really good football. I think he’s just continued to get better fundamentally in technique. You see the play down the sideline, gets beat at the line of scrimmage, doesn’t panic, plays with great technique, playing through the hands, disrupting the ball. He’s got great understanding of his zone principles right now too. He’s played extremely well for us. We’re going to need him to continue to grow, but play at an elite level here down the stretch.”

Tennessee and Kentucky will kickoff at 6:15 p.m. ET, with the game televised on ESPN. Tom Hart (Play-by-Play) and Roddy Jones (Analyst) will be on the call, with Quint Kessenich as the sideline reporter.