Through 5 weeks of the college football season, No. 8 Tennessee has played like an SEC and College Football Playoff contender.
Of course, games against No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia remain on the schedule, so there’s a whole lot of work for the Volunteers still to do.
But they’ve looked awfully good each week, including Saturday’s 40-13 win at No. 25 LSU.
Hendon Hooker had another big day for Tennessee on Saturday, as he accounted for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the Volunteers defense held LSU to just 55 rushing yards in the game while also coming up with some critical 4th down stops.
After the game, Vols coach Josh Heupel met with the media to talk about his team’s impressive win:
On the Tennessee fans who made the trip to Baton Rouge:
Heupel “loved the energy from our fan base here, can’t wait for next weeks atmosphere”
“The energy from the very beginning, you could feel it anytime we got near the stadium”
“They were a factor and a part of the game for us. It’s rare you have a fan base travel”
— Caleb Jarreau (@CalebJarreau16) October 8, 2022
On where he views his team at this stage of the season:
Heupel: “I said it a week ago, we’re still a long way from our best football. And I’ll say it again today. But there’s a lot of people in this program who work hard and are all willing to compete.”
— Josh Lane (@josh_lane20) October 8, 2022
On his team’s defensive play:
Josh Heupel in his opening statement: “Defensively we were relentless. We controlled the line of scrimmage.”
— Josh Lane (@josh_lane20) October 8, 2022
On what he appreciates about his players:
Heupel: They’re on the same page. They’re fighting for the same goals. They love each other. It’s a fun team to be around, just the way that they practice.
— GoVols247 (@GoVols247) October 8, 2022
On the performance of RB Jabari Small, who had 127 yards and 2 TDs:
Heupel: On Jabari small: “Toughness, really decisive… o-line does a good job finishing their surge too”
— Caleb Jarreau (@CalebJarreau16) October 8, 2022
On next Saturday’s matchup with the top-ranked Crimson Tide:
https://twitter.com/DavidSPaschall/status/1578837190624579584?s=20&t=34S-DH2GJzr8WMqS9ovLiw
On his team’s 4th-down stops:
Josh Heupel: “Defensively, they were 0-for-3 on fourth downs. That’s a huge part of the game and gave us short fields at times offensively.”
— Eric Cain (@_Cainer) October 8, 2022
"Chris Wallace covers college football for Saturday Down South. He has covered college athletics for multiple newspapers and also worked previously for Rivals.com and GolfChannel.com."
