Josh Heupel details Georgia’s defense, Vols playing ‘with a ton of passion’

Josh Heupel details Georgia’s defense and the Vols playing with a ton of passion.

Tennessee (5-4, 3-3 SEC) will host No. 1 Georgia (9-0, 7-0 SEC) Saturday at Neyland Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m. EST and CBS will televise the Southeastern Conference East division matchup.

First-year head coach Josh Heupel met with media for the final time Thursday ahead of Saturday’s contest. Heupel discussed competing against Georgia’s defense.

“I’m not sure there is really anything that they don’t do really well,” Heupel said of Georgia. “Schematically, they understand what they’re doing defensively. They don’t bust. They have their eyes in the right spot. They tackle extremely well out in space. They have good cover guys. They’re big, long, physical up front. I think they’re really unique in that they have 22-plus guys that are going to play on that side of the ball. They’re extremely deep. It’s a huge test for us.

“For us, I think, big football game, you can get caught up in the emotion of the game. I think we have to play with a ton of passion and not get caught up in the emotion of it. We have to do the ordinary things at a really high level, and if we do that, then we’ll be ready to go compete at a high level too.”

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