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Josh Heupel praises defense, reacts to hard-fought overtime victory over No. 17 Pitt
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Josh Heupel earned his best win as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers Saturday night, downing Pitt 34-27.
Tennessee had to squeak it out, but that’s not what matters in the end. There’s plenty to clean up, as Heupel touched on in his postgame press conference, but there’s plenty to enjoy, as well.
Take it from the man himself.
#Vols coach Josh Heupel: We need to enjoy this one on the flight home. I hope the guys really enjoy it. Then we need to go back to work Sunday and Monday and clean up a lot of things.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 11, 2022
Heupel on Tennessee’s fans in Pittsburgh: For our fans that traveled here, the amount of orange in that stadium… That was awesome to see. Players, staff and myself appreciate the efforts.
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) September 11, 2022
Heupel praised his defense postgame, calling them “Absolutely relentless,” and he’s not wrong. Tennessee’s defense won it the game when the offense started to slightly sputter in the second half.
The 2nd year head man singled out Aaron Beasley, calling him a completely different player than he was in 2021. The experienced linebacker totaled 14 tackles in Saturday night’s victory.
#Vols coach Josh Heupel on senior LB Aaron Beasley: He’s a different player, different person than he was last year. Mentally, physically, all of it. He’s really bought in, and he just keeps getting better.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 11, 2022
Here’s more of what Heupel had to say following Tennessee’s road victory over the Panthers.
#Vols coach Josh Heupel on Cedric Tillman: “He’s just a big-time player.”
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 11, 2022
#Vols football coach Josh Heupel: It takes maturity to keep competing when you make mistakes, and we made a lot of mistakes. But we were mature. We kept competing.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) September 11, 2022
Josh Heupel: I celebrated with our defensive staff in a big time way. I haven’t said it enough. They did an incredible job.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) September 11, 2022
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
