Tennessee passed its first test of the season in emphatic fashion a week ago.
The Vols rolled in their 51-10 drubbing of previously ranked NC State in Charlotte, moving them up the polls to inside the top 10 and in the thick of the College Football Playoff discussion two weeks into the 2024 season.
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Seventh-ranked Tennessee (2-0) gets one more tuneup game in Kent State (0-2) on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium before SEC play begins at No. 15 Oklahoma next week.
The Vols opened as a 47.5-point favorite.
Before the match up, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made his weekly appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference. Here is everything he said.
Opening statement
"I really like what your players have done here at the beginning of the week. Just their focus, their preparation, their urgency to get ready for this football game. Came in on Monday with a really good mindset of how we need to get better as we watched the video. And (we've) had a couple of really good days of practice on the field. We've got to go finish our preparation here in the lead up to kick off and go take another step as a football team with the way we play and continue to get better. Looking forward to being back home inside Neyland Stadium. Getting a chance to see our fans here in this one as well."
On conversations with Nico Iamaleava about throwing into tight windows
"At this level, you're going to have to throw into some tight windows throughout the course of the season. You play good opponents, they've got good scheme and they've got good players. So, being open at this level of play, you've got to be able to place the ball accurately. That comes from your fundamentals, your eyes and your decision-making in where you're going. You've got to be on the same page with your wide receivers. At the end of the day, he would like to have a couple of (throws against NC State) back, but it wasn't just him either. At the end of the day, the quarterback has always got to make it right, but the wide receiver and quarterback need to be on the same page. On one of (Iamaleava's two interceptions vs. NC State), protection has to be a little bit better. But also, you can find a soft spot in it. But like I said, at the end of the day, you've got to manage it right. I think you've got to be really careful about pulling the reigns on a quarterback, because those guys are going to have to play in tight spaces, in tight windows. You're going to have to make plays. As a competitor, you've got to be on the right side of that edge.
"You know, Nico, two games into this season and one start in the bowl game, has had great command, control, presence in how we're functioning offensively. Decision making has been really solid. He controls so much of what we do. I've been really excited about his command of what we've been doing offensively vs. the different structures that he inevitably sees during the course of gameday."
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On assessing pass protection through two games
"Protection as a whole has been solid. Are there areas fundamentally that we can continue to improve on? Yep. Absolutely. But, I don't care what side of the ball it is, all 11 have got to function and operate together as one. That's identification up front, it's your tight ends, your running backs getting involved in it, it's your quarterback having his eyes in the right spot and getting the ball out on time. It's also your wide receivers winning against some of these looks, as well. All of those things have to play off of each other. It takes all 11 games playing at a really high level, doing the ordinary things at a really high level to operate and function in the way that you want to."
On what he wants defense to look like
"The standard here is to be elite. I saw that a week ago, that this is the home of Al Wilson, Reggie White, Eric Berry. The list goes on and on. You know, when we got here, there were some speed bumps that we had to navigate with our roster. We feel like we've given ourselves the best chance in the immediate, but also for the future of our program. This is the deepest that our roster has been. The personnel that we have and the understanding of our scheme and the development of our players from our staff, we've continued to get better. We've played really good football here the last few weeks. There's a lot that we could get better at, too. That was a point of emphasis for our football team on Monday morning as they came into the building. As a program, we want to play extremely aggressive. That's our front, playing vertically, swarming to the football. What we've done defensively, how we plan, I really like a lot of what we're seeing. I said it earlier, there is a lot of things that we can continue to improve on and we need to. That's the goal everyday that we're in this building."
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On what to take from NC State win
"I think the 360 (degree) view is just the type of preparation that we have from everybody in the building. The urgency that we practice with and that leads you to go on and play assignment sound. Once we tee the ball up, just the physicality that we play with and the effort and the energy from the snap to the echo of the whistle play after play. At the end of the day, you've got to play harder than your opponents. If you don't do that, it's tough to overcome. I'm excited about the way that we've played, but we've got to continue to get better. Our players have bought into that. The first couple of days of practice, you've been able to see that in the way that they take the field."
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