There have been little surprises – both positive and negative – for Tennessee’s football team this season. That’s just the nature of a season matching up to preseason prognostications, from both the media and the Vols’ coaches. Every program in the nation has seen things unfold this season that were eye-opening. The Vols are no different.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel is an optimist. He’s not going to say he has been shocked by any of the Vol’s play that may have wowed fans and media, alike. As most any coach would do, Heupel said he saw the future before the season when asked about Tennessee’s elite defense and superstar running back Dylan Sampson, even if he’s still been a bit taken aback.
Sampson is a prime example. He was considered a leader when he first walked on campus, showed flashes of ability in practice and games and earned his teammates’ respect and trust long before he began making a run at a school-record that is nearly 100 years old.
“I wouldn’t say that anything truly surprised us,” Heupel said when asked about Sampson, who leads the SEC in rushing by 20 yards per game and is two rushing touchdowns from breaking Tennessee’s all-time single-season record for rushing touchdowns, which is held by Gene McEver, who had 18 in 1929. “Had great trust in who he is. His is competitive, continuing to add to his frame (and) durability.
“He’s a dynamic player, man, and is a part of changing the way the game is played for us. Him creating explosive plays has been a part of getting us jump started when we haven’t been necessarily functioning at our highest.”
No surprise there. Heupel also didn’t act surprised about his defense, which ranks towards the top of the nation in just about every category you can imagine.
Is Heupel surprised about his elite defense, even though he had to replace pretty much his entire secondary from last season? Of course not. However, he has to be duly impressed.
“What they’ve done in those situations is a lot of forced turnovers,” Heupel said when asked about his defense, which has a habit of making game-changing plays in defining moments. They found ways to push units the wrong direction and take them out of field goal range. Or make it a long field goal.
“I think that, besides, just execution, alignment, assignment technique, the competitive composure, the resiliency, the mental makeup of that group as a whole is really special and we’ve got to keep that moving forward.
“We got to continue to grow in it. But, it’s really special how they’ve competed and played, no matter what the situation is. It’s competitive maturity is the best way for me to describe it.”
Surprised? No. Quietly impressed while keeping expectations high? Absolutely.
