Josh Heupel opened his sixth season as Tennessee's head coach on Saturday. The Vols (1-0) defeated Furman (1-1), 56-9, at Neyland Stadium in Week 1.
Tennessee's offense totaled 638 yards in freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon's collegiate debut. The Vols' defense allowed 221 yards.
Heupel discussed the 18th-ranked Vols' season-opening win.
"Good start today," Heupel said. "There's a bunch that we are going to need to clean up here in all three phases of the game, but overall pleased with the performance. Defensively, we played extremely well. We don't turn it over, it’s probably a shutout. Those guys have grown, worked and competed extremely hard to go play and start the season that way. Proud of the effort there from our staff and our players.
"Offensively, the penalties early in the football game slowed a couple of drives down. After that, I thought we executed at a high level. Quarterbacks played smart and efficient today. All of them did, so good start. A lot to learn from and move on to a big one next week."
Tennessee will next play Sept. 12 at Georgia Tech (0-1). Kickoff between the Vols and Yellow Jackets is slated for 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN).
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Josh Heupel recaps Tennessee's win against Furman in Week 1
