Tennessee coach Josh Heupel often uses his Monday press conferences to look ahead to the next opponent, but reporters had a lot of questions about the Texas loss.
Here's everything Heupel said Sept. 28:
Josh Heupel: Good afternoon. Champions Weekend is this weekend. We'll honor and have a bunch of champions from a lot of different sports here. Look forward to seeing them.
Obviously, another conference game, so we're excited about that. Good opponent. Coach and his staff have done a good job here this year, but since he became head coach they all went back to USF as well, so there's a lot of familiarity with a lot of our staff. Looking forward to the contest.
Question: Josh, is there any advantage or disadvantage to playing against a coach you know
as well as Alex?
Heupel: It works both sides. A lot of their staff has been with us and vice versa, so it kind of balances things out.
Accountability after Tennessee's loss to Texas
Question: You said the other day that it was all-encompassing in terms of trying to fix the things that are correctable, and you talked about accountability a lot. What does accountability look like, from coach to player, player to player and coach to coach?
Heupel: I've got to take ownership of the things that I've got to do better. Our staff does as well.
Today, players come in, you look at the tape. There's a lot of good, and there's a lot of things you've got to get corrected. Every individual, collectively as a group, whether you win or lose, certainly enjoy wins more than losses, but whether you win or lose, you've got to flush it and get out on the field today and focus on what's next.
Be there for the Auburn game!
Quarterback development: Faizon Brandon's confidence and growth
Question: Coach, how do you keep Faizon confident? Obviously, a tough first start in the SEC. How do you keep him confident and keep his head up while also showing him where he needs to get better?
Heupel: First of all, he wants to play at a high level. He knows that he can play better than he did Saturday.
But that's a young guy that, since he's gotten here, takes ownership, amkes a correction and incorporates it into his game. I certainly expect that from him this week.
I said at the beginning of the year, too, you've got a young quarterback. The 10 other guys around him have got to do their job at a high level, too, and create circumstances for that guy. That's part of the ownership that everybody has on the offense.
Question: Faizon hasn't thrown an interception. Obviously, that's a great thing, especially for a freshman. Is there any part of you that would like him to dial down his caution? Is there any upside to taking greater risks with the ball?
Heupel: I think, again, we're not talking about reckless decisions. But in Saturday's game, there are windows and opportunities, timing and whatever it might be, where some of those things he's he's got to let it rip. There were things that he saw and things that maybe he missed. But that's part of growing as a quarterback.
Injury update cut off quickly
Question: I'll take a stab at an injury question ...
Heupel: Good luck.
Question: Wendall Moe – can you say how long he's out?
Heupel: See you on Wednesday.
Tennessee offensive line performance against Texas
Question: Up front on the offensive line, obviously you knew you had a challenge there. When you went back and watched the tape, what was the good, what was the concern, and where do you have to grow as an offensive line?
Heupel: First of all, that position group, we all understand, needs to play at a higher level consistently for 60 minutes to give us better a better chance to move the football.
Some of that's in the run game, certainly in protection as well. All the protection problems, it's not just five guys. It's everybody involved in it. It's tight ends, it's backs, it's quarterback, it's wide receivers doing their job, too.
Certainly we've got to get better. There were times in the run game where we've got to create a little bit more movement. There were times where we created movement to give us a little bit of space, and an unblocked guy makes a tackle. They tackled well.
It's all those pieces working together.
Arion Carter's impact beyond the stat sheet
Question: Arion Carter has impressive stats at this point in the season. What are some of the ways he affects what opposing offenses do that don't show up on the stat sheet?
Heupel: Just his ability to get to the football, first and foremost. He's violent, he's got speed. He's physical at the point of attack and disruptive.
How Faizon Brandon is responding after the loss
Question: Faizon hasn't lost a game as a starter since he was a sophomore in high school. You already talked about his confidence, but how have you seen him respond getting back into the building this week?
Heupel: Certainly disappointed after the game. You still felt some of that yesterday as he came in the building. But also eager to get back out there. He's a competitor.
He hasn't lost in football in a long time, but he's lost games. His ability to keep playing, not perfect, but keep plugging away, you could see that the other day.
There are some things we've got to do better in some of those situations, but he'll bounce back.
Adjusting to SEC game speed as a freshman quarterback
Question: Coach, as a quarterback, how tough is it to adjust to the speed of the game, especially being a young freshman? The first few weeks are a different story, then SEC play against Texas is another. How tough is that adjustment?
Heupel: You're playing a really good opponent that's really good up front and athletic on the back end. The game is moving a little bit faster. I talked about that last week a little bit. He'll adjust to it.
Saturday, we don't like the result, but he'll be better for it moving forward and continue to grow.
Heupel addresses controversial onside kick ruling
Question: Coach, just a comment on that onside kick. I know it was kind of a situation where I think it was ruled illegal. Have you guys addressed that, and what has that been like at the start of the week?
Heupel: Yeah, that kick was actually run previously inside of this league. We had earlier communication with the league as well.
We'll adjust to the new ruling.
Question: New rule?
Heupel: The ruling we got today as I was walking down here.
Auburn defense presents multiple challenges
Question: When you look at Auburn defensively, what do they do? How much carryover from last week is there into this week, and what challenges do they present?
Heupel: Some carryover. Some things are different. Personnel is different.
Some of their pressures and rotations are different, but they're really, really well coached. They play hard. They're multiple in their presentations.
So identification, guys working together and having the right bodies in the right places are all going to be a big part of this football game. Run game, protection and quarterback recognition as well.
Offensive line communication versus physicality
Question: Josh, how much of the offensive line's issues are related to communication compared to physicality? It seemed like Texas' twists and movement caused some confusion at times.
Heupel: Some of that is communication. A lot of it was.
Auburn's run game and quarterback involvement
Question: Your defense has been pretty solid against the run, but going up against Auburn, they clearly like to run the ball. What stands out about what they're able to do with their backs?
Heupel: Running backs are good. They run hard and get vertical quickly.
Their quarterback is a big part of their run game, too, going plus-one in the run game. So making sure we're fitting things the right way and getting that extra hat when needed.
Tennessee run game focus this week
Question: There was so much focus on the pass game this past weekend. What will the run game mindset be this week as you look to get back to yourselves?
Heupel: Ultimately, we've got to go execute.
We've got to create movement. Backs have got to see it, hit the hole and finish plus-two on the back end of it.It's all parts working together.
Coaching influences and building a program
Question: Alex Golesh was kind of an understudy of yours, so to speak. You had that relationship on the flip side with Mike Leach and a lot of others. When you go off on your own, how do you, as a coach, decide how much you take from what you've learned from someone else and how much you make your own?
Heupel: I think you try to take away the things that you like.
Every job is different when you're taking it over. You could take over the same place two different times and the job's going to be different.
So you're looking at all the pieces of the puzzle, from personnel to staff to where the program currently is and the natural things you're encountering and have to overcome. You adjust and try to put yourself and your program in the best possible position.
Similarities between Auburn's offense and Jerry Mack's scheme
Question: From the defensive side, having just went against Jerry Mack a couple of weeks ago, who runs some similar stuff ... do you think that helps the defense's in this mindset having just come off playing a similar offense two weeks ago?
Heupel: Yeah, I think there are some similarities in what Jerry Mack and Alex and Auburn are doing.
There are going to be a lot of differences based on personnel and getting people in positions to be successful. Both quarterbacks are mobile. This one, they're using the quarterback run game a lot more than what we saw.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel on Texas loss accountability, Brandon's confidence and that onside kick
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