Everything Josh Heupel Said To Open Up Kentucky Week
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel addressed the media to kick off the team's preparation for the Kentucky Wildcats. He touched on the upcoming contest, where things sit in the building after the Alabama loss and more.
Opening statement...
"I'm disappointed for our program for not coming away with a win down in Alabama. I said it to the players after the game and said it again today - I'm proud of the preparation, practice, and how we started the game. At the end of the day, to the program, to me, to the players: we've all got to be a little bit better in the second half and got to do that quickly as we move on. I sensed the players' disappointment this morning at the same time when we walked out of the team meeting room. You've got to cut it clean, and you've got to take the lessons moving forward, but we've got to go play a really good Kentucky team that's had two weeks of preparation coming off a bye—extremely physical football team on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Offensively, you look at their ability to rush the football, their efficiency, and their play-action pass is going to be a huge challenge for us defensively. Defensively, they're extremely good against the run and extremely physical up front. So, there will be huge tests, and special teams will be a big part of it, too. So, I'll open it up for questions."
On how analytics influence 4th & short decisions...
"Yeah, it's a portion of the process, but it's not the end all be all. It hasn't been any time we've had analytics as being a part of it. The answer? At the end of the day, coaches and players got to be better in those situations, and we've got to go pick up the first down. So, there were two critical fourth downs that we didn't pick up."
On the challenges that Kentucky's run game presents...
"You've got to stop them early at the line of scrimmage. Their offensive line, their tight ends, they're extremely physical. They do a really good job getting a hat on a hat. We've got to be violent, and we've got to be disruptive. You've got to have gap integrity between all the different personnel groupings; their shifts and motions do a great job of communicating and being gapped out. At the end of the day, when you meet the ball carrier, you've got to do a great job of tackling, too."
On lessons learned vs. Florida & Alabama...
"We've got to start faster in the second half in both of those ballgames. The Florida one obviously was the first half. You know, there are a lot of really good things in the video in the second half, too. At the end of the day, offense, defense, and special teams, you've got to operate with 11 as one, and we didn't do that at a high enough level. I do like the way we prepared. I like the way that we practiced. We've got to be on the right side of it when we get to game day."
On if he would consider using the "tush-push"...
"Listen, at the end of the day, we've got to find a way to pick up the first down. We've used a lot of different formations. We've been under center, we've been in gun, we've used it all. So we've got to find a way to pick it up in those two critical situations."
On why the downfield passing offense hasn't clicked...
"We've got to be better in all phases. It can be protection; it can be routes; it can be windy; it can be reading it; it can be Joe putting on target - we've got to catch the ball. So it's a little bit of everything. I thought we took some steps at times in our passing game last week. We've got to continue to improve here as we go."
On what makes this group special to him...
"First of all, they invest the right way, and they prepare the right way. They're willing to go lay it out on the line. Everybody in the program is disappointed with the result. But you can't be strictly results-driven. I know that's how everybody views the game. I get that, and we do, too. But these guys continue to compete and play extremely hard. So we've got to grow. We've got to make up the difference and be on the right side of it for sure. But this group wants to invest, compete, and go play."
On an ineffective run game vs. Alabama...
"Give them some credit, too. They did a good job destructing blocks and making plays, being physical at the point, and making tackles in space. You know, we weren't always on the right side of it. And, you know, that's the running back, it's our front five, it's tight ends. We needed to be a little bit cleaner in that one, but also, knowing the type of opponent that we were playing to, but we could be better on normal downs and situationally, too."
On the fair catch call against Alabama...
"I mean, the letter of the law - anybody who puts their hand up above the shoulder, that would signify a fair catch. We had a frontline guy who put his pointer finger up slightly above his shoulder. Now, he's not coached to do that, no."
On what he saw from Joe Milton...
"I thought he continued to compete, continued to fight throughout the course of the ballgame. Really good decision-making for a majority of the football game and was accurate with the football. You know, I thought he made plays with his feet. Some of that was in the quarterback run game, some designed, some not. Some of it was him scrambling around and making some plays. So there were some positive signs."
On lessons they can take from the Alabama loss...
"Welcome to college football, right? You've got to be on the right side of it. You've got to find a way to make the plays that make the difference and also understand that this game is not going to be perfect. We see really good players and coaches on the other side of it, too. I talked about earlier about how I liked this team because they invest, they prepare, and they play hard. We've got to be a little bit sharper. And you know, in the first ball game, I didn't think we reset, and this one, just you know, some unique things happened, and we didn't get going on on the right side of it, but we've got to cut it clean, and we move forward in this one too."
On how to coach young players through mistakes...
"First of all, you talk about those things. You show them on the video. Little subtle things make a difference, and you know how the game is played. And it's a series of one plays that make the difference in the football game. That's the way you've got to approach it, but it's a series of plays, so you've got to reset and refocus on the next one. And, you know, we talked about not having to be perfect because I think that applies a lot of pressure to kids, where you can't go out and just cut it loose and go play. But the fundamentals, you know, how you invest, your preparation, being on the right side of it. You've got to control the controllables in the process of getting ready to play."
Tennessee Volunteers HC Josh Heupel during the loss to Alabama. (Photo by John David Mercer of USA Today Sports)
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