The Tennessee Vols very nearly played a perfect first half of football on Saturday night against Kent State.
Tennessee led the Golden Flashes 65-0 at halftime. The Vols completely dominated in all three phases (even recovering an onside kick at one point) before sitting most of their starters before the half.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel met up with ESPN’s Cole Cubelic for a halftime interview and despite the impressive first half, the fourth-year Tennessee head coach was completely stoic while discussing his team’s performance.
Heupel noted that there are some things that the Vols need to clean up before dropping a quote that sounded like a warning to the rest of college football.
“Consistent competitors, elite competitors,” said Heupel when asked about Tennessee’s intensity in the first half. “You’re the same guy every single day. No matter who’s in the stands — 102,000 or nobody. The opponent is nameless, it’s faceless. Being consistent in the way that we approach the game. We had a good start to the football game.”
The opponent is nameless, it’s faceless.”
That’s some Game of Thrones-inspired stuff.
And that’s appropriate because it feels like that’s how the Vols are attacking this season. This team is obviously on a mission. They’re laser focused and they aren’t worried about any outside noise. This team loves to compete. And they view every Saturday, regardless of the opponent, as an opportunity to compete at a high level.
That’s why this Tennessee team has a real chance to make some noise in January. There’s a lot of business to take care of over the next couple of months, but the Vols have all of the qualities of a true championship contender.