KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Another challenging road test awaits this week as No. 21/20 Tennessee makes the short trip to Lexington to take on a physical Kentucky team that is coming off an open week.
“We’re playing a really good Kentucky team that’s had two weeks of preparation coming off of a bye,” head coach Josh Heupel said on Monday. “Extremely physical football team on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Offensively, you look at their ability to rush the football. Their efficiency in their play action pass will be a huge challenge for us defensively. Offensively, they’re extremely good against the run and extremely physical up front. It’ll be a huge test, and special teams will be a big part of it too.”
Despite coming up short last weekend at Alabama, the Vols’ offense was sharp in the first half en route to building a 20-7 halftime lead. The passing game especially was much improved as quarterback Joe Milton III completed a UT career-high 28 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. However, in order for the offense to reach its full potential, there are still improvements to be made through the air.
“We have to be better in all phases. It can be protection, routes, winning (one-on-ones), reading it, Joe (Milton III) putting it on target and (receivers) catching the ball,” Heupel said. “It’s a little bit of everything. I thought we took some steps at times in our passing game last week. We have to continue to improve here as we go.”
Saturday’s contest between the Vols (5-2, 2-2 SEC) and Wildcats (5-2, 2-2 SEC) is slated for a 7 p.m. ET kick on ESPN.
A full transcript of Heupel’s press conference and select player quotes from Monday can be found below.
Head Coach Josh Heupel
Opening statement…
“As I said after the ball game, [I was] obviously disappointed for our program not coming away with a win down in Alabama. The result of the game. Said it to the players after the game, said it again today, I’m proud of the preparation, practice and how we started the game. At the end of the day as a program, from me to the players – we’ve all got to be a little bit better in the second half. We’ve got to do that quickly as we move on. You can sense the players’ disappointment this morning. At the same time, when we walked out of the team meeting room, you’ve got to cut it clean and you’ve got to take the lessons moving forward. We’re playing a really good Kentucky team that’s had two weeks of preparation coming off of a bye. Extremely physical football team on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Offensively, you look at their ability to rush the football. Their efficiency in their play action pass will be a huge challenge for us defensively. Offensively, they’re extremely good against the run and extremely physical up front. It’ll be a huge test, and special teams will be a big part of it too.”
On how much the coaches use analytics to make in-game decisions…
“It’s a portion of the process but not the end-all-be-all. There hasn’t been any time that we’ve had analytics as being a part of it.”
On why Tennessee’s offense has struggled on the fourth-and-short…
“At the end of the day, coaches and players have to be better in those situations. We’ve got to go pick up the first down. Saw two critical fourth downs that we didn’t pick up.”
On stopping Kentucky running back Ray Davis…
“You’ve got to stop him early at the line of scrimmage. Their offensive line, their tight ends, they’re extremely physical. They do a really good job of getting a hat on a hat. We’ve got to be violent. We’ve got to be disruptive. We’ve got to have gap integrity between all of their different personnel groupings. Their shifts, their motions, we’ve got to do a great job communicating and being gapped-out. At the end of the day when you meet the ball-carrier, you’ve got to do a great job of tackling too. He’s extremely physical.”
On lessons learned from moments at Florida and Alabama where the team had compounding mistakes…
“We have to start faster in the second half in both of those ball games. With the Florida game, it was in the first half. There were a lot of really good things on the video in the second half, too. At the end of the day, offense, defense and special teams has to operate 11 as one. We did not do that at a high enough level. I liked the way we prepared. I liked the way that we practiced. We have to be on the right side of it when we get to game day.”
On offensive struggles on fourth down…
“At the end of the day, we have to find a way to pick up the first down. We have used a lot of different formations. We have been under center, in the gun, we’ve used it all. We have to find a way to pick it up in those two critical situations.”
On how they can improve in the passing game over the middle of the field…
“We have to be better in all phases. It can be protection, routes, winning, reading it, (Joe Milton III) putting it on target and catching the ball. It’s a little bit of everything. I thought we took some steps at times in our passing game last week. We have to continue to improve here as we go.”
On what characteristics makes this team mean so much to him…
“First of all, they invest the right way, and they prepare the right way. They’re willing to go lay it out on the line. Everybody in the program is disappointed with the result, but you can’t be strictly results-driven. I know that’s how everybody views the game. I get that, and we do too. These guys continue to compete and play extremely hard. We have to grow, make up the difference and be on the right side of it. This group is willing to invest, compete and go play.”
On the running backs struggling against Alabama’s front…
“Give (Alabama) some credit, too. They did a good job destructing blocks and making plays, being physical at the point, making tackles in space. We weren’t always on the right side of it. That’s running backs, it’s our front five, it’s tight ends. We needed it to be a little bit cleaner in that one. Also, knowing the type of opponent that we were playing, too. We can be better, normal downs and situationally, too.”
On if he got an explanation on the fair catch call…
“Letter of the law. Anybody puts their hand up above the shoulder, that would signify a fair catch. We had a front-line guy that put his pointer finger up slightly above his shoulder.”
On if they were coached to put their finger up…
“No, he’s not coached to do that, no.”
On what he thought about Joe Milton III’s performance against Alabama…
“I thought he continued to compete, continued to fight throughout the course of the ballgame. Really good decision making for a majority of the football game. Was accurate with the football. I thought he made plays with his feet, some of that was in quarterback run game, some designed, some not. Some of it was him scrambling around making some plays. There were some positive signs.”
On if there is a common denominator in the two bad quarters the team has played this season…
“Welcome to college football. You have to be on the right side of it. You have to find a way to make the plays that make the difference, and also understand that this game is not going to be perfect. We see really good players and coaches on the other side of it, too. I talked about earlier, that I like this team because they invest, they prepare, they play hard. We have to be a little bit sharper. In the first ballgame, I didn’t think we reset. In this one, just some unique things happened, and we didn’t get going on the right side of it. We have to cut it clean, and we have to move forward in this one, too.”
On explaining the importance of the fine margins to the player…
“First of all, you talk about those things. You show them on the video how little, subtle things make a difference in how the game is played. It is a series of one-plays that make the difference in the football game. That is the way you have to approach it, but it’s a series of plays, so you have to reset and refocus on the next one. We talk about not having to be perfect, because I think that applies a lot of pressure to kids, where you can’t go out and just cut it loose and go play. But the fundamentals, how you invest, your preparation, being on the right side of it. You have to control the controllables in the process of getting ready to play.”
On Kentucky’s defense…
“(They have a) young corner who has been opportunistic, made plays. When it has been up in the air, he’s gone and got it, and does a really nice job as a young player. Their front (is) big, strong and physical. They do a really good job of getting off of blocks, but their second level and third-level fits are on point. Even if you block it clean inside, the extra hat is showing up quickly on you. They have done a really good job of tackling that guy in space. We have to be extremely good up front; that’s the five (offensive linemen), that’s the tight ends, and we are going to have to run with a physical edge in this one.”
On how Joe Milton III’s designed runs helps the spacing of the offense…
“It can help the spacing, but again, you’re playing really good players. Every scheme is a little bit different, how you can attack them and trying to find an edge for your players. So, that is why things change from week to week a little bit.”
On Nico Iamaleava‘s development…
“He has done a good job, continues to prepare the right way, continuing to gain a deeper understanding of what we are doing. Obviously, week-to-week he has seen a lot of different defensive structures that he has to continue to prepare for. So, I like what he has done.”
On Joe Milton III choosing when to lower his shoulder when running…
“Everybody’s end of their runs are a little bit different. Their ability to slide, their comfort, dive, get down, situationally, too. The hidden yards in the game when needed. There are times when he should probably get down, but again, I like the way that he ran the football.”
RS-Senior TE McCallan Castles
On what has led to the tight ends scoring touchdowns in every game so far…
“I think it’s just pushing each other in practice. We get a lot of work with the quarterbacks, but not as much as the wide receivers so we make the most out of all those opportunities that we get. That way when you get that chance in the game you end up making the play. I think it’s just me and Jacob (Warren) both push each other in the route and we both talk about everything and watch film together. Kind of just eying out all those details together.”
On if there was anything different in the passing game in the first half against Alabama…
“We were just being us. Dudes were making plays when the opportunity came. In the second half, we kind of just dropped the ball on making opportunities and that’s kind of the way it ended up happening. We weren’t making those big plays like we were in the first half.”
On what they see as the reason for a lack of fourth-down success…
“We’re playing against SEC fronts, so those guys are obviously really good athletes, especially Alabama. They got stud dudes up there up front that even if they played the run gaps, they still can recover and make tackles off that. I think it’s just we got to execute better. It’s one guy taking a turn doing something wrong and if 11 guys do that once, that’s 11 times that you get stopped on those short yard downs. Just self-inflicted wounds, so we just got to keep ironing out the details and execute better.”
Senior DB Doneiko Slaughter
On Jaylen McCollough’s interception in the end zone…
“Just going through my technique, having disciplined eyes and footwork. I didn’t even know he had caught the ball, but that was a great play by my safety Jaylen McCollough hustling over there to get that turnover.”
On trying to gain momentum back after losing it in games…
“As we all say, our standard is the last play has nothing to do with the next one. Just snap and clear, believe and have confidence in your ability and make that next play. That is about it.”
RS-Senior DL Elijah Simmons
On what the difference was up front against Alabama between the first and second half…
“I feel like it was just keeping that same edge. Coming out, we started fast. We just didn’t finish fast. I feel like that’s something that we need to work on as continue to go on throughout the season is keeping that same edge throughout the whole game.”
On his performance after he has come back from injury…
“I’m just trying to get back into the groove of how I was playing before I got injured. I’ve slowly been progressing as the weeks have been going on. I’ve been feeling way better.”
On how they prepare for a physical Kentucky team…
“It’s the same way that we prepare any other week. We just go out there ready to compete. We have game plans, and we are ready to go out and face any challenge. I think Kentucky has a great running back and offensive line core. We go out and prepare the same way that we do every other week.”