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Josh Heupel says there is a ‘sense of urgency’ ahead of top 25 showdown at Pitt
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Tennessee was in this very spot a year ago. The Volunteers opened last season with a Thursday night blowout victory over a MAC opponent – last season it was Bowling Green, this season it was Ball State – and had visions of a 2-0 start with a home game against Pittsburgh in Week 2.
But after jumping out to a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Vols gave up 27 points in the second quarter and never recovered in a 41-34 loss. It was the first loss of the Josh Heupel Era.
Perhaps if the Vols had won that Pitt game their season might have gone a little differently, but they’ll never know. So Heupel doesn’t mind his players being fueled by that loss this week as they get ready to face Pitt again, this time on the road in a nationally televised showdown.
“Whatever gets them in the building to watch more tape, I’m all for it,” Heupel said. “Last year’s game has nothing to do with this year’s game. But there is a sense of urgency.”
Josh Heupel on the players being fueled by last season’s loss: Whatever gets them in the building to watch more tape, I’m all for it. Last year’s game has nothing to do with this year’s game. But there is a sense of urgency.
— GoVols247 (@GoVols247) September 8, 2022
Unlike last season’s game, both teams are ranked this time around, with the Vols at No. 24 and Pitt at No. 17 in this week’s AP poll. The Panthers knocked off rival West Virginia 38-31 in their opener on the same Thursday night that the Vols took care of Ball State, 59-10.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
