Josh Heupel is owning up to his mistakes.

The Vols HC didn’t have his best performance of his career Saturday night. But ultimately, it was still enough to win the ballgame over Texas A&M, 20-13.

Heupel specifically had some… interesting calls on 4th down. At one point he decided to go for it on 4th and 7 instead of attempting a long, yet makeable field goal for Charles Campbell.

He made it clear that there are no excuses for that, regardless of the variables. He explained his thought-process, but also explained that doesn’t mean he was necessarily correct.

Check out what he had to say below:

“Yeah, there were a lot of variables tonight (with those 4th-down decisions),” Heupel said. “The flow of the football game, the wind, who you’re seeing on the other side of the football, all of those variables. Didn’t look like I made a lot of the right decisions tonight for the most part in those critical situations.”

We can think of a few head coaches across the country who wouldn’t make that comment, regardless of outcome.

Saturday was probably Tennessee’s most impressive win of the season so far, but that doesn’t mean there are not areas that need significant improvement. The Vols’ offense has real question marks, and most begin at the QB spot with Joe Milton III.

Here’s some good news: Tennessee rushed for 232 yards on a Texas A&M defensive front that had allowing the fewest rushing yards in the conference through Week 6 at 84 yards per game. The Vols will eventually need a passing threat, but they can at least rely on that to provide some offense moving forward.

The Vols draw Alabama in Tuscaloosa next weekend.