Everything Josh Heupel said after No. 15 Tennessee's 44-41 OT loss to No. 6 Georgia

Everything head coach Josh Heupel said after No. 15 Tennessee’s 44-41 overtime loss to No. 6 Georgia Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement

“Give Georgia credit for finishing it the way that you need to win that game. Our players, man, I love the fight, the strength, the willingness to just keep battling and playing the next play and play physical, play hard. End of the day, coaches and players got to be a little bit better to win that football game. And tonight, it’s going to hurt. And we need to drink all that in and taste all of it. Because if we’re going to move forward and be the team that we’re capable of, this feeling tonight’s got to be a part of what continues to propel us and the urgency and the focus and everything that we do. 

“And I told them at the game, I love the competition part of it. Competitive. We’re continuing to compete. We just got to be a little bit better together, coaches and players. To our fans, they were awesome in the stadium, everything about it, so I appreciate them a whole bunch. And sorry and disappointed that we didn’t finish it out to get a win for them.” 

If he questions his decision to have Tennessee run it three straight times and kick a field goal to go up 38-30 after recovering the Georgia fumble on the strip sack

“Yeah, you can definitely say that. It’s a situation where they’re in the two-high bracket coverage. We obviously don’t pick up what we need to. We get behind the chains. And I was willing to be aggressive there if we got to a fourth down, too, had a little trap play. And end up losing inside on it. And we don’t pick it up and end up having to kick. And you got a chance to take it to full two possessions, for sure. But, first to second down, a little bit of how they were playing was why we were doing what we were doing, too.”

Tennessee’s offense starting fast, answering late in the third quarter and in the fourth

“When it’s going good, it’s the details in it. When it’s not, it’s those things too. Just a little bit off. Get behind the chains a little bit on a couple of them. Third down, don’t convert, fall back behind. But it’s just small details. And that’s what makes a game like this. You’re playing good competition. Your coaches, the game within the game, throughout the game, adjustments. And just we were a little bit off there in the second quarter. And not being able to pick up a third down during that sequence hurt us and a lot of them in a tight in football.”

What he told Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert after the game

“Listen, I told the team, it’s a series of one play that make the wins. And as a specialist, sometimes your life gets showcased in a way where you get very limited opportunities. I love the fact that he came back over time, drains it. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the one before, but he had his head high. And that’s the life of being a kicker, you know what I mean? And I love the way he responded. He’ll continue to grow and we got great trust in him. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish that one.” 

What Tennessee can learn about finishing games after this kind of loss

“It’s everything. Defense gets a big turnover. Offensively, details in what we were doing to go finish it, drain the clock and make it a full two-possession game. It takes everything. Fundamentals, technique, all of it. The competitive makeup of our team though, I love what I saw. We just got to get a little bit better.”

What he learned about Joey Aguilar

“Well, he came out and played within himself, made plays early. Got it to guys that can go make plays. When it wasn’t going good in the second quarter, man. Super calm demeanor, like great energy, sideline demeanor, all that. So there’s a lot to love in this football game.:

If Tennessee was trying to line up the field goal on the left hash, if the false start penalty changed his thought process

“We were going to move it more to the upright where we were at, yard line did not have any lost yardage so with everything that transpired, that’s why we kicked it when we did.”

The challenge of resetting at the end of regulation

“You got to go play. Listen, it’s the nature of the beast, right? And they hit us with a heavy set and scissor zone and we didn’t have gapped out or lost the edge on it. Offensively, we weren’t able to pick up the yards we needed to sustain a drive and go score. It’s not for lack of effort. Just didn’t make the plays at critical moments when we had to in this game. That being said, in the back and forth of the game, this group competed really hard.”

Tennessee receiver Chris Brazzell II stepping up in a major way

“I thought Chris had a great ball game. Wide receivers in general played really hard and made plays. Protected well throughout a majority of the football game. There were a lot of really good games. Just needed a little bit more.”

If this is a loss Tennessee can build off of with how early it is

“Losses never ever feel good, taste good, that’s not the expectation inside of this locker room just to play somebody tight. I think the disappointment of tonight can be a moment, something in our journey together that can springboard and propel us if we choose to use it that way.”

How important the next two days are after losing a heartbreaker

“Man, soak this baby in tonight, let it hurt. Same thing tomorrow. And for the players, the coaches will learn lessons and move forward early tomorrow. And when the players come back in on Monday, it’s— whether you win or lose, man, it’s about how you got to get better. And we take the lessons from this one, use the disappointment to propel us. They have even greater focus and urgency. We got a chance to be a good football team and continue to get better. And that’s what we have to do to be a team that we’re capable of.”