Tennessee opens its final month of the regular season against UConn at Neyland Stadium on Saturday (noon ET, SEC Network).
For the No. 19 Vols (6-2), who beat Kentucky, 33-27 in their last outing, the game offers up a break from SEC play before key stretch that includes conference games against two top 15 teams in Missouri and Georgia.
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Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel made weekly speaking appearance on the SEC Coaches Teleconference on Wednesday where he previewed the match up with the Huskies, talked about the Vols' bounce back win at Kentucky last week and more.
Here is everything he said.
Opening Statement
"As a football team, excited to have the opportunity to get back at home and play in front of our crowd. It's been awhile since we've been inside Neyland Stadium. It's also a unique week where it's homecoming for us, so we've got a lot of alumni, obviously that are coming back. A lot of VFLs and former players that will be back in town for this one, so it's great having them back around the program. A lot of guys will be coming to practice on Friday for us, so really excited about the opportunity that we have to go play in front of our home crowd and get that going."
On the season that Tennessee kicker Charles Campbell has had
"For Charles, the opportunity to come back to his home state and really, play for a program that he followed and loved as a young guy has meant a lot to him and to his family and a lot of people that have helped him in the beginning stages of his career. From the moment he got there, he integrated himself into the team in a really positive way. He's extremely focused. He works extremely hard. On the field, just his consistency all spring long, all training camp, just he hits the ball extremely consistent. He's been very accurate since the beginning. At the end of the day, you don't ever know until game day. Obviously, he had a history that was really positive at his former stop. But he's been everything that we hoped for and thought we were getting in him. He's a great ball-striker. He's a true competitor, too. He's got a great mental make-up for a kicker. Competes hard and cares about the people around him. He's been really good on the field. We're going to need him to continue down this home stretch here this season. Obviously, red zone we've got to continue to get better at and not settle on (field goals) all the time, but he's been a huge part of our season. He was the difference in the football game last week."
MORE FROM VOLREPORT: How James Wilhoit helped Charles Campbell mold own Tennessee kicking career
On relationship with Campbell at practice
"Absolutely (we interacted at practice). At the very beginning for sure. I do that with really our entire football team, meeting those guys as they're coming up the stairs to meetings. He's always wired and ready to go every single day. On game day, we have a great relationship, I think, in involving (kickers). Communication is extremely important. We do a lot of situational kicks during our practices, during training camp, during spring ball and try to put them in different types of situations to expose them to what's going to be real-life when you get to the season. I try to be extremely positive with them, joke around with them and try to knock them off their game a little bit occasionally before one of the pressure kicks, too. We've got a great relationship on and off the field. He represents everything that is good about Tennessee football."
On different make-up, approach of team this season compared to last
"I think, first of all, every season is different. Your personnel is never really the exact same. If you play one game on a given day and you play it 10 times, it's going to unfold differently every single time, too because there is so many variables in this football game. As we've gone through the season, good teams continue to get better throughout the course of it. I've talked about in the media, I really do like this team. They work really hard, they practice hard and they play extremely hard. We haven't always played our best football on a given Saturday but they do compete extremely hard and the care about each other."
On team's resiliency following Alabama loss, Kentucky win on the road
"As far as being able to bounce back, I think the consistency that you have, not necessarily the words that you say, they see you and they feel you more than they listen to you. So, I think as a coach, our assistant coaches, everybody in this program, how we push forward after a win or after a loss, it's very similar. In sports, you're only as good as your next one and fans, media, family, everybody around you wants to talk about the last (game). It's better when our boys come back in on Monday and you're resetting. You've got to refocus and you've got to compete to go play your best football the following Saturday. So there's a lot of consistency in that message, win or lose. There's a lot of consistency in the energy that they feel from our staff and from me hopefully, too. I think that allows our players to continue to reset and refocus no matter what the result is. You've got to be process-driven over the course of the season, but really just in life, too. I think that's important and this group has been able to do that so far."
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On what John Campbell Jr. has brought to the offensive line
"I haven't made the late-night trip to Waffle House with (Campbell Jr.) yet but during the recruiting process that was something that he definitely cared about. 'Big John' is a great teammate. As a transfer, the recruiting process happened pretty quickly. Sometimes, you have a history with them, sometimes you don't. John is a great teammate inside of this building. From the moment he steps foot in this building, he competes extremely hard, he brings energy to whatever room he's in. He's grown into a guy that really pushes people around him in a positive way. There's multiple instances of him gathering the teammates and having a talk with them. He's a dynamic player. Obviously, athletic and can pass-pro with the best of them. He's physical in the run game, he's extremely bright. He's a huge part of what we've been able to do to this point up front."
On UConn playing in close games
"They've played a lot of close football games. This is a football team that you watch the tape and they play and compete extremely hard. For us, having the ability to go out and play smart football and be extremely physical on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Special teams, (it's) important that we win that phase of the game. Those are the keys this week in my opinion. (Head coach Jim Mora) I got to notice a little bit when he was doing TV. Covered some of our football games. That's a guy that's won a lot of football games at a lot of different levels and is a really good football coach. You can just see that in the growth of a the football program. I don't think their record indicates how good of a football team they are. They've just come up short on some of those close football games."
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