ATLANTA – Coach Josh Heupel equated Tennessee football's first road win of the season to a boxing match that it labored through.
The 18th-ranked Vols (2-0) threw some jabs early in their bout against Georgia Tech (0-2). They sometimes had to stick and move. They survived some lackluster rounds. And they went the distance in a 45-24 victory on Sept. 12.
But Heupel knows his team needs a knockout punch to beat the best SEC teams on his schedule. The Vols are working on that.
“There’s a lot of things that we got to clean up as a staff and as a team,” Heupel said. “So enjoy the win. But when we come back on Monday, (we need to) get a lot better from it. We’ll have a chance to continue to grow, and that’s what good teams do.”
The boxing analogy apparently
touched every part of the locker room.
Running back DeSean Bishop said Georgia Tech’s defense “threw everything they had at us” to drop the Vols on the soggy canvas of Bobby Dodd Stadium. But UT rushed for 299 yards, led by Bishop’s 147 yards and two TDs.
Safety Dejuan Lane said Tennessee’s defense took some punishment from Georgia Tech, but it stood firm to finish the critical rounds. Indeed, the Vols stopped Georgia Tech on downs twice, intercepted two passes and made key plays with the goal line to their back.
“We stayed in there. We kept on punching. We never backed down,” said Lane, who returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. “And we took the fight to them over all 60 minutes.”
Josh Heupel is undefeated against teams with losing records
Beating Georgia Tech is not a signature feat. But Tennessee’s early schedule is built like a list of contenders, with the Vols moving up in weight class each week. It soundly beat FCS program Furman. It outlasted Georgia Tech. And stronger SEC foes are ahead.
Heupel knows the value of winning games over middling teams. He improved to 17-0 against teams with a losing record at the time of the game during his UT tenure. That means the Vols rarely have letdowns against sub-par teams, and they continued that trend against Georgia Tech.
“If you want to get caught up in looking at the ticker on the bottom of the TV and the prediction, point spread, percentage of chance to win, you’re going to get your butt beat,” Heupel said.
“That’s also why you’ve got to appreciate wins. It’s not always perfect, but you better appreciate them.”
Heupel also knows how hard it is to win on the road, regardless of the opponent. He improved to 12-11 in road games at UT by beating Georgia Tech in Bobby Dodd Stadium, which housed plenty of orange-clad fans.
Vols were satified with win, frustrated by mistakes
Despite the good vibes from the victory, the Vols know they had a very flawed performance.
They committed 142 yards in penalties. They gave up a touchdown on a blocked punt. And freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon completed only 10 of 21 passes for 148 yards.
“(Georgia Tech) is not a bad team. It was a close game, honestly, until the end,” Bishop said. “Obviously, we play in the SEC, and it’s a gauntlet in that league. So the mistakes have got to come down, and we have to stop shooting ourselves in the football. We’re the only team that can beat us in my opinion.”
The Vols’ mistakes prevented them from putting Georgia Tech away much earlier. They seemed to control most of the game but never held momentum long enough to seal it until the final minutes.
Heupel said body blows throughout the game finally took their toll on the Yellow Jackets.
"It’s a little bit like a boxing match," Heupel said. "You're feeling the opponent out and ultimately the (3-yard) and (4-yard runs) became 6s and 7s."
Nevertheless, Tennessee lacked a knockout punch earlier in the game. It felt fortunate to edge Georgia Tech in enough rounds to take the match by a comfortable margin.
And it earned the right to move on to the next bout. Tennessee plays Kennesaw State (1-1) on Sept. 19 (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium. Then a heavyweight comes to town in Texas, which KO'd No. 1 Ohio State.
If the Vols want a puncher’s chance against the SEC’s best, they’ll need a more than jabs and solid defense. But they were satisfied to step out of the ring against Georgia Tech still unbeaten.
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Why Tennessee football still needs a knockout punch before facing SEC heavyweights
