Everything Josh Heupel said on SEC Coaches Teleconference

Tennessee has reached the midway point of an eventful week.

The Vols, coming off of another come-from-behind win over Kentucky last week, debuted at No. 7 in the first College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings on Tuesday. Now, Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC) shifts its focus to Mississippi State.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

In the last of a four-game homestand, the Vols will look to swell their win streak to four games against a struggling Bulldogs (2-5, 0-4) team that is winless in league play on Saturday at Neyland Stadium (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Tennessee coaches and players have been adamant this week that it can’t afford to get caught looking ahead to a road tilt and potential playoff elimination game that could also decide a spot in the SEC Championship Game next week at No. 3 Georgia.

Vols’ fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel didn’t delve into rankings, reiterating instead their focus on Mississippi State during his weekly spot on the SEC Coaches Teleconference.

Here is everything he said.

“Another home game here for us. Excited to get to Saturday night. Should be another great environment inside of Neyland Stadium. You know, challenge for us again this week is to continue to improve. Mississippi State, look at how they’re playing, as a football team, played extremely well last week. Young quarterback that’s continuing to get better, good skill players and (will) be another challenge for us here inside of this league, and looking forward to it.”

“Jeff is extremely smart, highly competitive, works extremely hard. He’s got an opportunity, or has a personality that allows him to have great relationships with young people, and at the same time, have the traits to challenge them. And, you know, I think that’s why you can see them continue to see them grow throughout the course of the season, and why he’ll do a great job down there.”

“Thought during the course of our spring ball, and then through our work in the summer and where we finished training camp, that we would have a chance to to be a group that played extremely hard, played fundamentally sound, would have a chance to be a really good defensive line week in and week out. You know, the challenge for that group at that time, was just continuing to develop our depth, our ability to rotate, stay fresh, have a lot of bodies, is a is a big part of our success.

“Coach (Tim) Banks, Coach (Rodney) Garner, Coach (Mike) Ekeler, those guys have done a great job just building continuity, connection and selflessness inside of that defensive line room, and that comes in the form of a lot of guys playing, but also those guys challenging each other to continue to grow and be selfless. And when I say that as a defensive lineman, you know, playing your keys, playing the run. Can be twist games where you’re helping your buddy get open.

“This group just continues to play for each other, and they play really hard. So you put all those things together, going back to your original question, I thought early we would have a chance to, but who they are as people, is why they’re playing the way they are.”

“For us, part of it was the traits that we’re going to bring in. The guys that were inside of the building, you know, building them on their fundamentals and technique, but just in our offseason work, changing their bodies. Just the growth of the technique, I think that’s a huge part of why they’ve continued to grow, is their growth in fundamentals. Eyes, they’re playing with their hands coming out of their hips.

“You know, pass rush, the ability to bend and, you know, having moves and then counter moves off of it, and doing all that while not giving the quarterback a bunch of running lanes to get out of the pocket.”