Tennessee came up just short against Texas, 20-17, and Josh Heupel didn’t waste time spelling out why the Vols walked away empty-handed.
Heupel praised the crowd, called the atmosphere “unbelievable,” and apologized for Tennessee not finishing the job. He also gave Texas its due, calling the Longhorns a good football team, but he made it clear the biggest problem was on Tennessee’s side of the ball.
“Offensively, just not anywhere close to being good enough to beat a team like this. Everybody will have a hand in it when we go back on Monday with the tape, with the guys.
Up front, not good enough. Quarterback, not good enough.
Everybody’s got a hand in it. Ultimately, we’ve got to be better.”
The defensive effort and special teams drew his praise, and Heupel said he loved the way Tennessee kept fighting until the final snap. Even in a game that never felt clean, he said the team kept competing.
“I do love how the team continued to fight, played to the last play. We didn’t play smart enough, but I’ll take the effort of playing the next fight, continuing to fight until the clock hits zero.”
The offense’s rough night included 10 sacks, and Heupel said the tape would show a mix of issues. He pointed to protection breakdowns, times when the quarterback didn’t get rid of the ball, and the challenge of facing a talented Texas front.
“It’ll be a bunch of everything. O-line has got to be better, can be better.
A time we were giving up pressure off of chip protection. We have to be able to execute that better.
There were times when the quarterback’s eyes, decision-making, not getting rid of it when there’s opportunities to get rid of it. Combining all that together and you have that personnel on the other side, you just can’t play that way.”
Heupel said Texas didn’t show Tennessee anything wildly different on defense. The issue, in his view, was execution.
“Nothing extremely out of the ordinary, of presentations that they had shown. There were some subtleties, but nothing that we shouldn’t have been able to adjust to. But execution was just not there.”
He was also asked about Tennessee’s final possession and what the Vols were trying to do late.
“I’m not sure which play you’re talking about. If it was after Braylon (Staley’s) initial catch, we weren’t pushing it way deep down the football field.
Trying to get a catch and run. We were still playing at the time, at that time, to go score.
Obviously, there’s a scramble that you can’t take a sack on. There’s a lot of teachable moments in this one down the stretch.
Collectively, we’ve got to do better.”
On the final play, he said simply: “The last one was trying to get the ball snapped.”
Heupel explained the fourth-and-7 decision at the Texas 34 late in the second quarter by saying it was his call and that Tennessee trusted Cooper Ranvier, but the conditions and the look they expected pushed them toward going for it.
“Ultimately it’s my call. We got confidence in Coop (Cooper Ranvier), just where it was at, the wind, and structurally, what we felt like we would see. We felt like we had a good play.”
Despite the loss, he liked what Tennessee’s defense did for much of the game. He said the line of scrimmage tilted the right way, the run game was bottled up for most of the night, and the defense created pressure late.
“I thought the line of scrimmage controlled the game. Bottled up their run game for the most part.
The fourth quarter, they hit us on a couple consistent runs. In that last drive, they applied pressure to the quarterback.
There was a lot to like there.”
Faizon Brandon was a major part of the discussion afterward, both because he was injured in the first quarter and because Tennessee’s offense never found its footing. Heupel said the medical staff checked him, Brandon returned healthy, and he took more shots later in the game.
“Yeah, obviously, the medical staff went and checked him. He was able to come back healthy, ready to play.
Down the stretch he took some shots, too. He’s disappointed.
I’m not talking about the injury, just not playing up to the standard for us offensively. But it’s all 11 together, too.”
Heupel said Brandon is a mentally and physically tough player and that the game will help him grow.
“Absolutely. Mentally and physically tough. He’ll learn a bunch from this one and be better for it, but he is a resilient and tough kid.”
Asked about Brandon not seeing the field more, Heupel said the game sped up on him early and that the pressure Tennessee allowed only made things harder. He also said the rest of the offense had to play better.
“There’s some things that he’s going to be able to see or did see even on the iPad. I think early, good opponent, big game, it was sped up just a little bit for him.
Then when you start giving up pressure, too, that can speed him up, too. All those things combined were a factor.
The 10 other guys around him got to play better, and he’s going to have to play better, too.”
Heupel also addressed Wendell Moe Jr. leaving early with injury, saying he didn’t have an update.
“I don’t have an update for you on that one or where he’ll be at.”
On the bigger offensive lesson, he said the quarterback has to know when to get rid of the ball, the line has to clean up its fundamentals, and the whole operation has to be sharper in key moments.
“The quarterback, there’s going to be times where I got to get it in the dirt and find another play. Can’t take a sack, can’t scramble.
Situational football at the end of the game. Us upfront, playing with better fundamentals and technique.
All of those things. There’s a lot.
There always is, but there will be a lot we have to learn from quickly in this one.”
Heupel was also asked about the week surrounding Coach William Inge’s hospital stay. He said there had been some positive news late in the week, called Inge a fighter, and said the program was lifting him up in prayer.
“First of all, he’s had small wins here in the late part of the week. It kind of turned serious in the middle part of the week.
He’s a fighter. He’s tough.
He believes in the power of prayer. We’re lifting him up in prayer.
Our fans are, too, I hope. He’s got a real fight on his hands still, but he’s had some positive news.
Emotional for everybody inside of our program. At the same time, I thought our guys did a good job of not completely forgetting about what’s going on with him because that’s really important.
They were able to focus. We’ve got to be better as a football team.
I look forward to seeing him soon.”
Heupel closed by saying there will be plenty to clean up, but that Tennessee’s fight was never in question. The execution, especially on offense, was.
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