Josh Heupel Addresses Media After Tennessee's Dominant Win Over Kent State

Josh Heupal recaps Tennessee's 71-0 victory over Kent State.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel looks on from the sidelines during a game between Tennessee and Kent State at Neyland Stadium, in Knoxville, Tenn., Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. Tennessee defeated Ken State 71-0. / Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Josh Heupal recaps Tennessee's 71-0 victory over Kent State.

Tennessee made a historic return to Neyland in their Week 3 matchup against Kent State, scoring 71 points and shattering several program records in a dominant victory over the Golden Flashes. The Volunteers set new marks for points in a quarter (37), points in a half (65), total points in a game (71), and total offensive yards (740).

Josh Heupal spoke to the media following Tennessee's domainant win.

Opening statement

“First of all, just our fans, awesome atmosphere coming back. Vol Walk was electric, packed out. Had a lot of former players, former basketball players, DK (Dalton Knecht) back, too, around the building. So great to have so many former players come back and be a part of it, too."

“Just as a football team, thought we started fast. There’s some things that we’ve got to clean up, but all in all, a good performance. Defensively, controlled the line of scrimmage, got off the field third down. Offensively, able to run the football and create some big plays as well. Special teams was a solid performance as well."

If he believes its essential to play well before the Vols head into conference play and if that play will carryover

“Every week’s its own identity. Man, prefer to play well. Prefer to continue to gain consistency in the execution and fundamentals and technique. There were some things that we did well tonight, there’s some things that we got to clean up too, and take the next step as a program.”

His thoughts on playing a lot of young guys and the play of freshman Mike Matthews

"Had a lot of young guys that played, some of them late in football game, some early. Mike is a guy that we’ve had great trust through spring ball, early part of training camp, got nicked up. We were able to use our four-wide package now with him being healthy tonight, and so it was good to have him out there, he made plays, he handled himself within the flow of the game extremely well. Really excited about what he did, but a lot of our young guys too.”

On DeSean Bishops growth throughout the season

“Yeah, one, he comes into the meeting room, to the practice field, he’s the same dude every day. He’s competing, he wants to grow, he challenges himself. He responds well to the challenges from his coaches. I thought he did a really good job tonight pressing the line of scrimmage and getting to the third level and creating big plays.”

On Nico iamaleava's performance

“I thought he played really well. Used his feet when it was time to use his feet. There were a couple things early in the football game, we had a drop early in the game over the middle of the football field, he missed on a little RPO, just fundamentally not in a great position, but all in all played extremely well. Good decision maker.”

His thoughts on the defense not giving up a touchdown in 16 quarters

“Tim’s done an amazing job building it. Our staff, but how our players understand what we’re doing, fundamentals, technique, playing with him. Playing really hard. The challenge was, no matter who’s in the ball game, to go play to the standard of how we play and to win the fourth quarter. Really proud of how we played in the second half.”

On if establishing a running clock was discussed after the first half

“You’d have to talk to our administration on that side of it. And I say that meaning that it was something that was talked about but ultimately didn’t happen.”

On if he's ever been apart of game where he's been up 65-0 at the half

“I don’t know. At the end of the day, we played good football early. Came out and played good football in the second half and got a win.”

On Dylan Sampson's success and consistency this season

“He’s got great vision, got great pace. Presses the line of scrimmage. Delivers blocks. He's elusive out in space and you combine all those things and you got somebody that can be efficient with football in his hands and certainly he would give credit to five offensive linemen, the tight ends and all the skill guys out on the perimeter to, they were a big part of it as well.”

On Lance Heard not playing

“We held a couple of guys tonight that could have gone just for the longevity of this season. We held them out tonight.”

Other Tennessee News:

• Tony Vitello Turnaround Nothing Short of Brilliant for Tennessee Baseball
• Jaylen Williams Cuts Recruitment to Four Schools
• Tennessee Vols Football Could Make Playoff According to CFB Data Model

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