Josh Heupel quickly shoots down a narrative about the Tennessee Vols' loss to Georgia Bulldogs
The Tennessee Volunteers were in a place on Saturday night against the Bulldogs where they haven't been in a long time: in the game in the fourth quarter. The Vols held the ball down 24-17 with under 9 minutes to go in Georgia territory with a legitimate chance. However, they would end up punting, and their […]
The Tennessee Volunteers were in a place on Saturday night against the Bulldogs where they haven't been in a long time: in the game in the fourth quarter. The Vols held the ball down 24-17 with under 9 minutes to go in Georgia territory with a legitimate chance.
However, they would end up punting, and their vaunted defense gave up a 12-play, 92 yard death march to the Bulldogs that ended with a two-year Nate Frazier touchdown run to put the game away at 31-17.
It was the closest the Vols have been with the Bulldogs in a game since their last win in the series in 2016. However, that effort really meant nothing to Tennessee fans after the game, given the result. After all, the Vols were ranked #7 and at the top of the SEC, while Georgia was #13.
In other words, expectations have changed in a big way in Josh Heupel's fourth year.
Still, that didn't stop one reporter from asking if being in the game in the fourth quarter against Georgia gave him and the team any kind of measuring stick for progress. Heupel's response was predictable and appropriate.
"Man, this program is a long ways away, rearview mirror, from being ok with the wrong outcome," Heupel responded. "I think we look at the second half – the first half too – but the second half, missed opportunities, things that we didn't take advantage of in all three phases of the game.
"All of that being said, it's a one possession game late in the fourth, and we've got to go make a play. I told the guys before the game, games like that you've got to play smart, you've got to be extremely physical. We were physical, but you've got to go take the game in the fourth quarter, too. There's a bunch of different reasons, but we didn't get it done."
Tennessee is way past moral victory stuff. That ended once the Vols went 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl back in 2022. The bar clearly has raised around the program, and no one wants to hear or think about moral victories anymore.
At this point, it looks to be just above a coin flip odds based on current oddsmakers for the Vols to make the college football playoff. That's what matters as this point: achieving that actual and tangible goal. Not whether the Vols were hanging on late in a game that they eventually lost.
That change in expectations and that response from Heupel speaks volumes about where Tennessee has come as a program during his tenure.
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