It’s a mixture of emotions for Tennessee football. Of course the Vols should celebrate beating the Florida Gators, and they are now 4-0 and 1-0 in SEC play with two wins over ranked Power Five opponents.
At the same time, they let a quarterback who can’t throw rack up over 450 yards through the air against them. They also almost blew a 38-21 fourth quarter lead, letting Florida score two late touchdowns and recover an onside kick.
If you listen to Josh Heupel afterward, though, it’s pretty clear where he’s leaning. Tennessee football’s positives outweigh the negatives for him in this 38-33 win.
“There is a whole lot that we can do a whole lot better, but the goal for us is to find a way to win each Saturday we’re on the field, to be the best football team,” he said in his postgame press conference. “We were able to do that tonight.”
Despite their issues, the Vols did have many positives in the game. In fact, even on defense, Heupel found things to celebrate after the game.
Sure, the secondary needs work, and that’s something to address. However, Richardson’s mobility was clearly back, and Billy Napier used it.
Even with that weapon, Florida had just 141 rush yards and under three and a half yards a carry. They came in averaging over 200 yards a game and nearly six and a half yards a carry.
“I thought for the most part we handled the run game extremely well,” Heupel said. “There were a couple times we let them go back door on some of their zone reads concepts.”
Don’t forget that Omari Thomas forced a fumble and Jeremy Banks and Roman Harrison had a fourth down stop. Florida did its damage through the air.
Obviously, though, the larger positives were the offense and the mental toughness of the team. They showed resiliency with a 99-yard drive drive at the end of the first half to go up 17-14 and never lost the lead after that.
Going into halftime up by three despite a first half loaded with mistakes, including two turnovers and multiple defensive lapses, was huge. UT followed that up with a touchdown drive to open the second half.
“Obviously huge in the way that the game played out, right?” Heupel said of the 99-yard drive. “We score on that one, we score in the beginning of the third quarter. We’re in some long-yard situations during the course of that drive.”
One constant, the biggest positive of all, was the reason for that offensive success: Hendon Hooker. The Vols’ signal caller had over 300 yards passing and over 100 yards rushing with three total touchdowns on the day.
He did it despite suffering an upper-body injury in the first half. The 99-yard drive came immediately after the play he got hurt on.
“Hendon, fierce, played like a warrior tonight,” Heupel said. “We had a lot of guys that did that, but Hendon was relentless in the way that he competed.”
Although he was strip-sacked once and made one inaccurate throw to Jacob Warren early that would’ve been a touchdown if it was on-point, Hooker’s decision making was perfect. He showed what experience can do.
Once again, he didn’t throw an interception, so he now has eight passing touchdowns, 10 total touchdowns and no picks on the year. Heisman talk is in full force because of it, and Heupel also addressed that.
“You continue to win and play the way that he is, you’re going to get a lot of attention, deservedly so,” he said. “He’s mature enough as an individual and as a football team to handle it, but those things, as you continue down this journey here or this next month, he’s got to continue to play the way that he is.”
What helped Hooker stand out was another huge positive in the game, though. Without the Vols’ best receiver, Cedric Tillman, weapons everywhere were able to step up.
Bru McCoy had over 100 yards receiving. Jalin Hyatt had over 50. Both tight ends had over 40. Ramel Keyton had 69 yards receiving, but he may have been the breakout star with an epic diving catch to keep the 99-yard drive alive.
“Hendon has got great confidence in him, and to me, that tells you everything you need to know about Ramel the player,” Heupel said. “We have a ton of confidence in him, too.”
Even Jabari Small stepped up in the passing game with three catches for 32 yards and a score along with 90 rushing yards and a score. Small, Hooker and Jaylen Wright all found the end zone on the ground.
Heupel said the Vols hope to have Tillman back by their next game, in two weeks at the LSU Tigers. He added that nobody was happier in the locker room than Tillman after this win.
“We love Ced and recognize what he brings to the table,” Heupel said. “Somebody goes down, I don’t care what position, what unit it’s on. It has to be a next-man-up mentality.”
When you combine Tillman’s injury with the fact that Hooker was banged up, it’s safe to say the bye week may be coming at the right time. This offense needs to get healthy.
At the same time, it could be a curse for being so early, as Tennessee football will have to finish the season playing eight straight weeks. Heupel, though, still focused on positives, said the timing of it this year is right.
“For us, it is the right time to have the opportunity for some guys to catch their breath and hopefully get a little bit healthier,” he said. “That’s in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and guys that are playing on special teams, too.”
Going into a bye also allows Vol fans two weeks to relish this win. Given the environment, with College GameDay in town, that’s something they need.
Heupel once again took notice of that too. It was Tennessee football’s second straight sellout, and Heupel said again that the Vol Walk was unlike anything he ever witnessed. He also praised how his players handled the hype.
“I told the players today, when we got done with our walk-through right before getting on the bus, soak it in, enjoy the moment of the Vol Walk,” he said. “Enjoy what it looks like running out of that ’T.’ And then reset and be fierce in the way that we compete with each other. I thought they prepared in a great way, then they were opportunistic and competed really hard today.”
