Just In: Vols Climb Inside the Top 10 of Latest Polls

It turned out much closer than it appeared it was going to, but Tennessee found a way down the stretch to take down then No.20 Florida 38-33 inside of Neyland

It turned out much closer than it appeared it was going to, but Tennessee found a way down the stretch to take down then No.20 Florida 38-33 inside of Neyland Stadium on Saturday night. The Vols improved to 4-0 on the season for the first time since 2016, and they have once again climbed in the rankings. 

The Vols climbed in both the coaches and AP polls coming in at No.8 in the AP Poll and No.9 in the coaches poll. Click here to view the full poll. 

"The gameday atmosphere, that is Rocky Top," Josh Heupel said following the win. "This is what it is. There have been some times where it has not been that, but Vol Walk the way it is, that stadium rocking the way that it is, that is Rocky Top. For our recruits and our players, it is what we built. This is one of the great stories in all of college football. That is why the stadium looks the way that it does. I thought our players handled the week itself in a really positive way. I told them early in the week everything we worked for, and having been a player, blocking out the outside noise is not real. It is everywhere, so you are going to hear it. Understand the opportunity you have created for yourself, what the game is going to look like, and the opportunity to have College GameDay being here, the stadium, the energy, all that. Understand what it is, and now, it is about your preparation. I told the players today when we got done with our walkthrough right before we got on the bus, soak it in, enjoy the moment of Vol Walk, enjoy what it looks like running out of that T today, and then reset and be fierce in a way that we compete for each other. I thought they prepared in a great way, and they were opportunistic and competed really hard for each other.”

Saturday proved to be a crucial day for the Vols on the national stage, as not only did Tennessee gain its second ranked victory of the season, while Hendon Hooker also firmly became a Heisman contender after his stellar performance on Saturday, throwing for 349 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for another 112 yards and a score. 

Tennessee goes into a bye week, allowing them to heal up, before heading on the road to LSU for what will be another pivotal early season tilt. 

“You never get to control it," Heupel said of the timing of the bye week. "You never know if it's going be the right time. For us, it is the right time. We get an opportunity for some guys to catch their breath and hopefully get a little bit healthier. That is in all three phases of the game.”