2024 Vols look to replicate 2000 Oklahoma Sooner national championship run

The narrative going into the Tennessee-Oklahoma game last week was all about Josh Heupel's return to Norman after both leading them to a national championship as a player and his tenure there as a coach.

After leading the Vols to a huge victory against his alma mater, this team has begun to be touted as a national championship contender, thanks to their elite defensive play to pair with a young and very talented quarterback.

In the preseason, whenever Heupel would discuss his team, he would always talk about improvement and becoming elite in the areas they have struggled in the past. But if you looked at his expressions, there were a lot of smiles and confidence. He loves his football team. Maybe it's because he's reminded of his national championship team 24 years ago.

Heupel knows his team

Prior to Oklahoma's first preseason practice in 2000, Heupel gave the team a speech. He asked why not them, why can't they win the national championship. It was a bold question at the time, as the previous year Oklahoma was 7-5 and was preseason ranked as a fringe top-25 team.

While we don't know what Heupel has said to his team this season, we know that he has publicly stated that the goal at Tennessee is to win championships, and he always spoke with confidence in this team before the season started. Heupel holds high standards for his team, so confidence from him should speak volumes.

Vols are defense first

Heupel was an incredible quarterback who ran Mark Mangino's system to near perfection and was the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy, but he was never the most talented quarterback. That Oklahoma team had an incredible defense with an offense that was opportunistic and smart.

Last night's game was played exactly that way. Tennessee's defense dominated the line of scrimmage and never let Oklahoma have a chance in the game. This dictated offensive playcalling throughout the game, along with other factors. Tennessee was incredibly conservative on offense, and a lot of that was trusting the defense to get the ball back, but it was also affected by poor field conditions and both starting tackles being out with injury.

Heupel played smart and ultimately took the route that won them the game, even if it was frustrating to watch. He saw Nico get strip-sacked one too many times and decided clock control was how he wanted to win the game.

Heisman Caliber Quarterback

The best part is that Nico Iamaleava has a higher ceiling than Heupel ever had as a quarterback, and will only continue to improve as the season progresses. That was only Nico's 5th game as a starting quarterback in college and his first SEC road game, and while he didn't look amazing, he did everything he needed to do to win.

Heupel played similarly at OU, compiling nearly 3400 yards passing on 64.7% completion rate and 20 TDs and added 7 on the ground, but had 14 INTs. Through four games, Nico has thrown for 892 yards on 69.3% completion rate with 7 TDs and 2 INTs with a rushing TD. He's pacing for similar numbers to Heupel's senior season as a redshirt freshman. QB standards have changed over the last 24 years, but Nico could easily improve his numbers exponentially throughout the season.

Nico is not playing at a Heisman caliber right now, but all the talent is there, and his ability to continuously improve and learn from his mistakes could get him to that point by the end of the season. Fortunately, he has time, thanks to his defense.