It's funny/depressing how things can change in just a week for Tennessee. After beating Alabama, it felt like the Vols and Josh Heupel had one foot in the door for the College Football Playoff. Following the loss to South Carolina, however, everything changed, with UT now on the outside looking in. That's the major consequence from totally blowing it in Columbia.
In that defeat, 12 penalties for 90 yards were posted. and three of them took George MacIntyre touchdowns off the board in devastating fashion. Heupel has clearly looked back at the film from the Week 8 defeat, and he's got every reason to be a bit disgusted.
With that, he let his players know that these kinds of mental lapses won't be tolerated moving forward, especially since the Vols are one loss away from seeing their playoff dreams come to an end.
Tennessee HC Josh Heupel:
— Rocky Top Insider (@rockytopinsider) October 28, 2026
"Guys that consistently show they aren't going to play smart aren't going to play on game day."
Josh Heupel must hold his players accountable with 4 games left this season
"Guys that consistently show they aren't going to play smart aren't going to play on game day," Heupel said while speaking to the media this week.
There's quite literally no room for error for Tennessee moving forward, which is something Heupel and his staff are surely keeping in mind. Come Nov. 7, the Vols will host No. 9 Kentucky in what's going to be a heavyweight SEC matchup. What Will Stein has been able to get done in Lexington has been tremendous, with the Wildcats looking like a totally different team.
If Tennessee wants to take down a top 1o opponent for the second time in a month - the Alabama upset is still being celebrated in Knoxville - then the same types of errors everyone saw against the Gamecocks can't be repeated. Think Stein and his players are going to let the Vols get away with being lazy? Not a chance.
Following the Week 10 meeting with the Wildcats, Tennessee will close out the end of the regular season at Texas A&M, home vs. LSU, and then in Nashville against Vanderbilt on Nov. 28. On paper, the Vols have a fantastic opportunity to go 4-0 the rest of the way, which should be more than enough to sneak into the CFP.
That's the positive. The negative is that with one slip-up, Tennessee will miss out on things for the second consecutive season. This team has the potential to go on a run, and then make noise in the Playoff, no one's denying that. Still, the infuriating lack of focus in a winnable game against South Carolina was downright unacceptable.
Heupel was ticked off about it then, and he's still not happy about things now. With the bye week here, Tennessee is surely using this time to regroup, refocus, and more.
Come next Saturday, we'll all find out exactly what this team is made of after getting punched in the mouth. Heupel wants to see a head-turning response from his team as well in dealing with some adversity. If that doesn't happen, it'll be next man up if certain guys aren't ready to deliver.
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