Josh Heupel’s Tennessee Volunteers became the latest SEC program to get hammered by the Georgia Bulldogs. UGA beat the Vols 41-17 in Neyland Stadium.

Although Tennessee started fast and the offense gave UGA fits early, Georgia’s defense settled in and college football’s python tightened its grip on the Volunteers as it sucked the life out of the team and stadium after the first quarter.

Tennessee scored 10 first-quarter points, but the Vols only mounted a touchdown in the 4th quarter. Georgia allowed only 55 rushing yards for Tennessee’s offense.

Josh Heupel spoke to the media following the Vols loss to the Bulldogs, and below is everything he said about Georgia.

Opening Statement

“Wanted to just start by saying it’s been almost a month since we had home game. The fans were electric and awesome. Before the game, the Vol Walk was as good of a sight as I’ve ever seen. And the energy inside the stadium was fantastic. Just appreciate what (the fans) did.

“Disappointed with the outcome. Obviously that’s a really good football we played in Georgia. They deserve a ton of credit. There are some things that we had to do better to change the way the game was played in the second half and down the stretch.”

On being even with Georgia for some of the game

“Loved the way our kids prepared. Loved the way they competed. Don’t question any of that. Against a good football team like that, you’ve got to make the plays or make some plays that give you a chance to play it down to the end. You lose the turnover battle 2-0. Can’t do that. The red zone for us, offensively, not good enough. Change those two things and you have a chance to play it down to the end. Our kids know who and what they are and what we’re building here. We’ll continue to fight.”

On the gap between Tennessee and the elites like UGA

“We’ve got to continue to compete, continue to grow. I’m not scared to walk on the football field against anybody, neither are our coaches. We’re going to continue to recruit, continue to grow the right culture inside the building and we’ll be in more of these games. And we’ll end up on the right side of it as we grow.”

On how Georgia adjusted after the fast Tennessee start

“They got us with the pressure. We struggled with protection. We got the next drive going, we air mail the ball and end up with the pick. When it’s going good, guys are doing ordinary things at a really high level. When it’s not, it’s probably something along those lines. It’s not all 11. It’s just one guy. (Georgia is) a good football team. They’re good defensively. They’ve got really good personnel and they play their scheme extremely well. There are some things that we have to do a better job of in certain situations, in particular.”

Kirby Smart said he made special preparations for Tennessee’s offense. Is that a compliment?

“I don’t know. End of the day, I think for us as a football team, we’ve shown that we’ve gotten better throughout the course of the season. That’s true defensively, that’s true offensively. Tonight wasn’t our best football. I don’t want to take anything away from Georgia. They’re really good in all three phases of the game. When I say that, just our control could be a little bit better. We need to (be better). We’ll look at it on Monday and get ready for the next one.”

Toughest aspect of Georgia’s defense

“The toughest thing is just the personnel. Their front seven personnel is really good. They rotate guys in. There’s no drop off from one to the next guy that is coming in.”

You can watch Heupel’s full press conference below: