Josh Heupel recaps Tennessee's overtime win against Gators

No. 9 Tennessee (5-1, 2-1 SEC) won its second Southeastern Conference game of the season on Saturday.

The Vols defeated Florida (3-3, 1-2 SEC), 23-17 in overtime, at Neyland Stadium.

Fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel met with media after the game and recapped the Vols’ victory.

“The fans, awesome tonight,” Heupel said. “Huge part of the game. I appreciate them throughout the course of the game. For us as a football team, love the win. I think the resiliency of the group, down 10 with seven minutes left in the third quarter, offense not playing good at all, but continuing to play, continuing to compete and finding a way to make some plays and get back into the football game, then go into overtime and comeback, reset and go finish the game the way that you are capable of and that you want to. Really proud of our guys.

“Defensively, elite performance. Physicality, strength – most of the night – assignments sound and made plays. James [Pearce Jr.] on the goal line, forcing a fumble. I mean so many things that they did at a really high level, which kept us in the game. Offensively, there’s so much that could be a whole lot better. That’s all 11 on the field, but continued to fight and made some plays. We have to clean some things up. Man, everybody needs to enjoy this one, it’s hard winning in this league, and tomorrow we will move on and get ready for another big one here at home.”