Last Saturday, Tennessee had its best showing of the season to this point. The Vols dominated at Missouri, rolling to a 62-24 win and picking up their first SEC victory of the year.

Now, Tennessee will look to keep building momentum this week as it hosts South Carolina in another conference matchup. How does it plan on doing that? Vols head coach Josh Heupel answered just that during his “Vol Calls” weekly radio call-in show on Wednesday night.

“The key for us is just understanding what allowed us to play in that manner. And to continue to improve those things during the course of the week,” Heupel said on the show (h/t Patrick Brown of 247Sports.com). “Those things lead you to kickoff. It doesn’t guarantee the end result that you’re looking for. But it puts you in that best position. So far this week our guys have been fantastic.

“I think there’s a case and a hunger for more. We come back in the building on Monday and, as a coaching staff, you’re able to apply the positive, which you do every week. Even if the scoreboard is not right. But man, there’s so many things that can be better, too, that our kids have taken great ownership of.”

There isn’t much Tennessee could have done better against Mizzou, though. It amassed 683 total yards of offense and built a 33-point lead by halftime. The Vols’ defense forced a pair of turnovers and prevented the Tigers from getting back into the game.

Tennessee has alternated wins and losses through the first 5 weeks of the season, but it could put together its first winning streak this week. South Carolina is coming off a win against Troy, but it has dropped its first 2 SEC games against Georgia and Kentucky.

The Vols and Gamecocks are set to kick off on Saturday at noon ET on ESPN2.