What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Thursday on The Mike Keith Show

What Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Thursday during his appearance on The Mike Keith Show, discussing the bye week and next week’s game against Arkansas:

If Tennessee spends more time working on itself during the bye week or working on Arkansas, the next opponent

“A little bit of both, but a lot on us. I love coming away with the win (at Mississippi State). Love the way we competed from play to play, series to series. Love the way we finished the game. But the controllables, fundamentals, technique, eye discipline, all of those things are areas that we got to continue to grow in. And that’s what good teams do. We got to continue to grow. This week is big in that respect.” 

Watching film of the Mississippi State game, if Tennessee performed better in any areas than he thought

“We gave up some runs early on some of the outside zone, poor tackling. Didn’t fit it a couple of times. But all in all, controlled the line of scrimmage. Made it difficult on the quarterback. I thought we did a really good job there. And then there’s a lot of things we got to correct from Saturday. Love the way that we finished, but we defensively end up having to defend three possessions that started inside the 26-yard line. There’s just so many things that we did that made that game, the way that it was played out, that we got to continue growing as we go, you know, this week and start getting ready for Arkansas next week.”

How he evaluates Tennessee’s running backs after the first five games

“I think they’ve done a really good job. In pass protection, they’ve been solid for the most part. They’ve been a big part of the running game. There’s a couple of runs from Saturday where, based on the track and the blocking scheme, I felt like we made the wrong cut for the backside of the run. But all in all, they’ve played hard, they’ve taken really good care of the football, they’ve created explosive plays when they’ve had a chance to get to grass. 

So there’s been a lot to like.”

What he liked best about Tennessee’s 25-yard touchdown run to start overtime 

“Jack Van Dorselaer does a great job on the edge of the defense, kicking it out, straining with fundamentals and creating more space on the back side of it. Offensively up front, got really good movement on the back side of the play and that allowed DeSean to hit the back side and have enough space to run through an arm tackle. And DeSean did a great job of reading the run, the blocking scheme and how it was fit. And then making a play and getting to grass.”

If Tennessee freshman TE Jack Van Dorselaer earns more trust and playing time with moments like that 

“Yeah, we have a ton of confidence. He’s had some opportunities here in the first part of the season. Done a great job on special teams. We got great trust in him going out there and executing and playing great football.”

What has been best about Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar so far

“I think the best thing about Joey is he’s super consistent in who he is and how he approaches the first play of the game, the next play of the game. Emotionally very controlled within himself, doesn’t get too high, too low, the moment’s never too big for him. He made some great plays in that last drive, not the two-minute drive, but the last drive to go score and tie up the football game. But we’ve seen that from him consistently throughout the year, too. So I think that’s, one of his elite traits.” 

If the play of Tennessee LB Arion Carter at Mississippi State surprised him

“I don’t know — 17 tackles, that’s a lot. I don’t know if I’ve ever had anyone that’s had that many in one game. AC, great leader, super competitive. And you get that from him every single day. In the meeting room, on the practice field, in the weight room, it doesn’t matter. His impact himself continues to grow, but (he) impacts the guys around him. But a really smart football player and plays with bad intentions as he’s getting to the football. And just a really special performance from him.” 

What Tennessee CB Colton Hood has done so far

“As we started recruiting him, we just thought he was a great human being, first of all, and fit the culture of what we want inside of this building. And then as a player, you saw great man skills at Colorado. And as he transitioned here, we were working him at corner, but also multiple positions. And he just did a great job picking up the defense. And now you’ve seen all of his athletic traits along with his football IQ allow himself to go put himself in position to go make plays — big-time pick six (at Mississippi State), but play great out on the perimeter all day long. Really excited about what he’s done.”