What Josh Heupel said after No. 15 Tennessee's 56-24 win over UAB

What head coach Josh Heupel said after No. 15 Tennessee’s 56-24 win over UAB Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium:

Opening Statement

“Good win. Like a lot of what we did in the first half, some things that we need to clean up on all three phases of the game from the first half to second half. Started fast. And our young guys roll in the ballgame, some good, but a lot of things that, game action is proof positive of things that they got to clean up, too, and attention to detail. But all in all, good win.”

Tennessee starting fast again in the first quarter 

“Early, I thought for the majority of it, handled themselves really well. Made some big plays on the perimeter, hit some runs offensively. Defensively, did a pretty good job against the run and we were able to get off the field on third downs. So it was a good fast start, certainly early in the football game.”

Shutting down the UAB run game, giving only 23 rush yards on 19 attempts

“Front seven operating together, striking blocks, penetration up front, making it bounce. Second level doing a good job fitting. And when the safeties are in it, them as well. And it’s important to win the line of scrimmage and ultimately get them in third and long and get off the football field. For the early part of the game, thought we did a good job that.”

If he saw improvement from Tennessee’s defense or if it’s hard to gauge in these kind of games

“Every week is a new week. The challenge for our guys as a team, not just defensively, is to take a step. I think there’s things that we’ve liked about what we did. There’s some things that we got to clean up, too. I thought defensively, early in the football game, everything that they were throwing at us, pretty sound for the majority of it.” 

The play of Tennessee defensive back Jalen McMurray

“Jalen is consistent. Great leader. Plays physical. He’s got great eye discipline. Going to stick his face in there and go make plays. I thought he played really well early in the football game. Did a good job in communication, matching things out and coverage as well.”

The progress Jalen McMurray has made since last season

“First of all, he loves football and he’s an elite competitor. I think he’s done a great job with his body, physically. Continued to grow, mature and I think that coupled with complete understanding. He’s trained at multiple positions, which has allowed him to just continue to raise his level of play. Fundamentals have continued to get better. Understanding of what we’re doin, his eye discipline, all of it. And he’s played at a really high level.”

What he knows about Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar at this point that he didn’t know before the season

“Joey, what I love about him is, whether it’s good play, bad play, good series, bad series, same demeanor coming off on the sideline. He goes and approaches the next play, next series the same way. He’s aggressive, but playing smart football. And he’s got the one pick (against UAB), gets batted up in the air, and he comes back, resets and goes and plays the next series. And I think that’s one of a lot of elite traits that he has.”

How much of an impact injuries have had on Tennessee’s defensive struggles 

“Sure. Yeah. You’re missing some corners. You’re missing interior guys. Yeah. Does anybody care though? At the end of the day, you either win or you a lose. There’s no asterisk next to it. They don’t say, ‘yeah, but.’ You gotta go win.”

This being his 40th win at Tennessee

“Man, I had no idea. Listen, I absolutely love being here. What our fans have been a part of helping us climb, what our staff has done and certainly what our players have done. It’s fun to be here. The best part of my day is when I walk in there and I’m with our guys. It’s a place that doesn’t feel like work. It’s a place you love to be and get a chance to do what you love, which is competing. So there’s been a lot of growth in our program. There’s a lot left. This team’s a good football team. We’ve got to continue to get better. And we control where we take this thing.”

The message to the team ahead of Tennessee’s first true road game

“It’s 11-on-11 between the white lines. If something else is affecting you, you’re allowing it. It’s attention to detail, it’s communication. Offensively, sure, communication is tougher on the road. But it’s communication, alignment, assignment, keys, technique, and then you gotta go make plays in your one-on-ones and that’s out on the perimeter, that’s in the interior. So we got to take another step. We’re playing a good football team next week.”

Tennessee’s running game against UAB

“There’s some things that we really liked about the run game today. There’s some things that weren’t as clean as we felt like it could be. That’s all 11. Pop a big run, get a holding call. So there’s a lot of little things in this that we can get better from. But the run game’s important to our identity offensively and a lot of really good things today.”

Tennessee freshman DT Isaiah Campbell’s performance

“Isaiah’s a guy that has great traits, cares about people around him, and continues to grow as a man and as a player. I’m really excited about his continued growth. Today, a couple of our guys not being out there. Man, he was in the rotation. He just continues to get better. And we’re going to need that from him, like a lot of young guys. And we played a lot, too. I think we played 16 true freshmen in the first half. We’re going to need those guys. You get into this conference play, you know, week after week, guys are going to have to step up. And he is one of those guys that is stepping up, but can continue to grow and take bigger steps and be ready to go.”

Tennessee taking care of business against group of five teams

“Being elite competitors is a part of what we demand and expect inside of our building. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing. There’s a way that we need to play. You play harder for longer, you’re aggressive, take care of the ball, you’ll get it. But at the end of the day, there’s a limited number of opportunities, all the work that you put into it, and I think the consistency in our approach as a staff allows our players to feel that too and be consistent as well. There’s a lot to really like today. There’s a lot that we can continue to improve upon too.”