Josh Heupel reflects on self-inflicted wounds, mistakes
Tennessee will look to bounce back from the 29-16 loss to Florida, in a game that was never really competitive.
Coach Josh Heupel talked to media on Monday, and the first thing he mentioned was the team has to stop hurting itself with self-inflicted mistakes.
“Offensively, in particular, we total self-inflicted wounds that can be penalties, unforced errors or communication, our percentage was way too high,” Heupel said. “It was too high on Saturday, and it was really too high last week too. That’s why you move the ball at times, but you don’t have very many points. We have to clean that up, you can’t beat yourself.”
Penalties were especially devastating for the Volunteers last Saturday night, as the team committed 10 penalties for 100 yards.
Fixing those mistakes, Heupel said, begins with the ability to not let one mistake turn into more.
“I do think you can’t let one play affect another,” Heupel said. “That certainly happened during the course of the first half. The communication things, it can’t transpire that way. It is us coaches being better, our players being better, and at the end of the day, we have to find a solution to it.”
The Volunteers will be back in action on Saturday as they host UTSA at 4 pm ET on the SEC Network.
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Thats just one of a myriad of things to fix. Play like that against utsa and you will get beat too. We need a lot better preparation. We need everyone back. Need cooper badly. had no idea how badly until sat. need sampson, need mincey to put football ahead of getting high or move on to his post football career. Need pili but wont see him for a while. I kind of expect them to be in a funk for utsa and still win ala AP but if they dont come alive for SC, especially now that we know its a night game, then they are done.
Dang Fuzzy, that loss really surprised me! Fully expected the Vols to get it done in Fla.
Your boys best get it together for sc in a couple of weeks. I think we showed you what not to do (first half) and what you can do (2nd half) to get Rattler off his game. You got the studs on defense to do that.
The reality is the last 3 descent teams we’ve played on the road the the team was NOT ready to play. 3 in a row is a trend and that falls SQUARELY on the coaches, starting with the head coach.
He needs to figure this issue out and do so quickly.
Totally agree beef. This staff doesn’t know how to prepare the team for big road games and it was oh so clear in heups presser today
Happens every year no matter who the coach is or the payers are. We play our worst game of the year. They play their best game. All the calls go against us. Death, taxes and this
Two things in life are certain. First is that at the end of the season, Florida won’t be nearly as good as they looked in beating Tennessee. Second is that at the end of the season, Tennessee won’t be nearly as bad as they looked in losing to Florida.
The refs didn’t help, but Tennessee didn’t help themselves.
I could add a third-that Tennessee’s results against weaker November opponents will be hailed as “progress” when there’s a good bit of fool’s gold there.
This team was bound to take a step back. 2022 is the year when nearly everything bounced Tennessee’s way. So in 2023, an 8-9 win season would be tolerable. Now though? I think that’s a CEILING. I honestly think we’re a bubble for bowl eligibility.
There’s not a sure win on the schedule for Tennessee. Maybe Vandy and UTSA. No need to play Nico yet because the O-line is leaking oil. Has Willie Martinez ever coached a secondary that’s been any good? I mean….
If you could revote the 2022 Heisman trophy right now, Hendon Hooker is your winner in a runaway. Nobody was more valuable to their team. Nobody’s performance and leadership covered more gaps on the team than his did.
Meh. Still a lot of football left to play. Maybe this bunch will surprise us.
Your penance. Write 1K times. “I will never fall for bait box traps again”. Than reflect on the meaning of it. Never allow what looks like easy money to change what works. That slowed the entire offense down and caused many false starts reacting to sneaky UF line shifts. I hope you watched in horror as it unfolded for an entire half.
Next writhe 1K times. “I am the only HC on this team and am allowed to tell Banks to bring more pressure”. Than reflect on that and react in the game accordingly. The adjustment never came on D and UF’s O’line simply tired in the second half.
Write 1K times: “It’s ok to play teh underclass speed in rotation”. No more practice evaluations. Every game is different and that ship has sailed where we trust what you are seeing in practice vs how different it looks in game time. No Dylan Sampson not playing excuses of, “was the right flow”. You need to play the guys even when the game isn’t going your way. That is when you need the spark. Small and Wright were out of gas early in this game. The same requirement on D is needed of Banks. There is no reason to not sub in full rotations more than you did on Saturday. That is why we went and go so many D guys in the offseason so you can use them.