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What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said about upcoming matchup with Alabama

63571867_t466o7i5ncby: Blake Byler10/15/25blakebyler45
JoshHeupel
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel (Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

No. 6 Alabama is getting ready for a fourth straight matchup with a ranked opponent as No. 11 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) will come to Tuscaloosa for the latest edition of the Third Saturday in October rivalry.

On Wednesday morning, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel joined the weekly SEC coaches teleconference to share his thoughts ahead of this weekend’s game.

Here’s everything he said about facing Alabama:

Overall thoughts on the game…

“Third Saturday in October, this is a great rivalry that has been played for a long time. One that I saw as a young player. But having been in it the last few years, it’s a special, special game. Obviously getting ready to go play a really good football team in Alabama that’s playing extremely well right now. Got great respect for Coach DeBoer and his staff and what they’ve done at Alabama, also throughout his career.

“Offensively, the quarterback’s playing extremely well. Really efficient with the football and taking care of it. You can tell he’s got great command of what they’re doing offensively. A lot of playmakers, the offensive line’s playing extremely well. Defensively, typical Alabama defense. Big, strong up front, athletic and long linebackers, a secondary that’s really athletic as well. Put that with special teams, it’s a huge test for us this week. One that everybody inside of our program is excited about. Just got to continue to prepare the right way to give ourselves a chance to play really good football.”

On differences in Alabama’s offense under Ryan Grubb…

“Obviously Coach Grubb and Kalen have been together for a long time. A year ago, you saw a lot of what they’ve done. I think the biggest difference is just the quarterback and the style of play. Throughout their history together they’ve had a lot of different types of quarterbacks. They are able to push it to the skillset of the guy that they have.”

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