There are several reasons why the Tennessee Vols beat the Florida Gators on Saturday.

But I think the main reason for the win starts with Josh Heupel and a decision he made early in the week.

There was a ton of hype around the matchup with the Gators. And nearly all of the attention was placed on the No. 11 Volunteers. It seemed like no one was giving Florida a chance, despite the fact the Gators had won 16 of the past 17 meetings.

(ESPN's College GameDay barely mentioned Florida on Saturday morning it felt like.)

That kind of hype is what Alabama head coach Nick Saban likes to call rat poison.

It's really easy for players to hear the outside noise and become a little overconfident.

Heupel, however, bucked conventional wisdom and didn't tell his players to block out the noise. Instead, he told them to embrace it. Heupel told them to look at the outside noise as a privilege.

It was brilliant by Heupel — he knew that blocking out the noise wasn't possible. So he used it as a weapon instead of looking at it as a roadblock.

“I thought our players handled the week itself in a really positive way," said Heupel after the win against Florida. "I told them early in the week, everything that we’ve worked for, having been a player, blocking out the outside noise is not real. It’s everywhere, so you’re going to hear it. Understand the opportunity that you’re creating for yourself. What the game is going to look like, the opportunity we’re going to have, College GameDay being here, the stadium, the energy, all that. Understand what it is. And now it’s about your preparation."

"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," added Heupel. "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.”

The Tennessee fan base has been waiting a long time for a coach like Heupel to come along and restore the program to its former glory.

We can't say "the Vols are back" just yet. But Heupel is getting it done and he's getting it done quicker than any of the four coaches that came before him at Tennessee.

Considering where the program was just 18 months ago, it's almost unbelievable that Heupel has this team at 4-0 and on the verge of a top 10 ranking.

Featured image via Calvin Mattheis/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK