Josh Heupel previews Tennessee-Georgia game during Thursday's press conference

What head coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference on Thursday, looking ahead to the undefeated showdown between Tennessee (8-0, 4-0) and Georgia (8-0, 5-0) on Saturday (3:30 p.m. Eastern Time; TV: CBS) at Sanford Stadium in Athens:

HOW HE FEELS 48 HOURS BEFORE KICKOFF

“The week has been really good. Guys have been focused, urgent in the way that they’ve entered the building, their meetings, out on the practice field, too. Like what we’ve done up until now. The lead up to kickoff will be important as we finish our preparation.”

HOW TENNESSEE’S PACE HELPING DEAL WITH CROWD NOISE ON THE ROAD

“We’ll find out on game day. At the end of the day, there have been times since we’ve gotten here that we’ve handled being on the road extremely well. There are other times where we haven’t handled it. A lot of that is us. You know, the communication and playing smart football will be important on Saturday. I anticipate us handling it well.”

HOW DIFFERENT IT CAN BE FROM ONE STADIUM TO THE NEXT ON THE ROAD

“I anticipate it being a great environment. Big football game. Obviously they’ve been highly successful. Their fanbase is excited for this one. Ours is, too. But it will be a great environment. I anticipate crowd noise being a part of the football game for sure.”

HOW HE REACTED TO TENNESSEE BEING NO. 1 IN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKING
“I’ve just been game-planning. For us, move right back in it as soon as I was done with the (ESPN) show. I’m absolutely proud of what we’ve done up until this point, from the time we’ve gotten here until now. There are a lot of things we need to continue to get better at. But the reality is that’s the first show, the first rankings. Everybody remembers what you do in November. The only one that matters is the last one. The reason we’ve gotten to the point that this is a big football game is because we’ve handled things the right way. Coaches and players alike. Preparation and practice and understanding the type of football team. It’s a really good football team and they’ve been winning for a while. Great opportunity for us.”

Vols developing versatility in secondary

WHEN DONEIKO SLAUGHTER STARTED TO STEP FORWARD
“I just think he’s constantly continued to push himself. The early part of this season, for sure, had great confidence in him. Every opportunity that he wanted, or we had planned on, doesn’t always come around. Just the way the games unfold. Inside of our building, our coaching staff has great trust in him. He’s physical, he’s mature, he prepares. His best football is still out in front of him, which is exciting. I anticipate him playing well in this one too.”

HIS IN-GAME COACHING CHEMISTRY WITH HIS COACHING STAFF AND ITS IMPORTANCE WITH THIS UPTEMPO OFFENSE

“The communication, being able to adjust quickly within a drive, or certainly after a drive and halftime, it’s a huge part of putting our kids in hopefully the best position to be successful. The amount of time that we spent together allows us to draw back on past experiences, learning opportunities, as we continue to grow and develop what we’re doing.”

HOW THE VERSATILITY OF WESLEY WALKER HELPS IN THE SECONDARY

“Someone that wasn’t here in spring ball, that started in June with us. June and July, getting in shape, and getting used to the habits that we have inside of this building. Then learning a defense, able to draw, certainly guys that have played college football, the verbiage might be different, there might be subtle tweaks in some of the coverages, but they have some experience to draw on that helps them in the learning process. It has continued to heighten his understanding of what we’re doing. He does have versatility. When we recruited him we felt like he would have that type of versatility. It’s important, just as the season goes on, guys get dinged up, being able to place guys in different spots. But excited about the way he’s playing really all year long, but certainly the last three or four weeks.”

WHAT IT MEANS FOR GEORGIA TO BE MISSING NOLAN SMITH

“Yeah, they don’t just have one guy that can get after the quarterback. They’re deep and they have guys that can affect the quarterback. It’s next man up for them. For us, it doesn’t really change a majority of what we’re doing.”

HOW JAYLEN WRIGHT HAS PRODUCED IN RECENT GAMES

“Confidence, which stems from understanding, practice habits, doing little things at a high level every day. He was proud, excited. We recognize in the building just his ball security last week and some of his unique body positions that he got into that are tough to do that in. He’s still a young football player. He’s a year and a half into his college career. He’s going to continue to get better at everything a running back needs to do. But certainly playing with a great amount of confidence right now.”

Tennessee at Georgia, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (TV: CBS)

WHAT GEORGIA DOES UNDER KIRBY SMART BASED ON HIS PAST EXPERIENCES FACING HIM AT OKLAHOMA AND MISSOURI

“Every where you’re at, the personnel is different. So your schemes are subtle, different and continues to evolve in what they’re able to do. The personnel they have gives them a great amount of flexibility. I just say that because it’s tough to find mismatches against them. They’re deep and from pressures to coverages, rotations, all those things, it’s all part of how the game unfolds.”

HOW HIS EXPERIENCE AS A PLAYER IN BIG GAMES CAN HELP HIM PREPARE HIS TEAM AS A HEAD COACH

“I really haven’t talked about my playing experiences this week, with this football team. What I have talked about, like the outside noise and the fact that this is a big game, everybody knows that, right? But the reality is, as a competitor, you’re so entrenched in the preparation, or you should be, that the week kind of unfolds in a normal routine for you. Our guys are confident. They’ve prepared in a really good way. I don’t feel like they’ve changed their habits in any way that is going to hurt us throughout the course of the football game, because they’ve prepared. I think handling the emotion in the early stages of the football game is important in any big ballgame. You’ve got to play extremely smart and settle into the football game. Really, I think that’s important.”