UT@UGA: Heupel’s confidence is noticeable

Tennessee Football put out its initial injury report for Saturday’s game last night and Nico Iamaleava’s name was listed as questionable. Josh Heupel has been understandably vague about Nico’s status since Monday as any coach would be, and any sneaky tactics in making Georgia prepare for 2 QB’s could be what’s happening. However, the more likely scenario is that it truly is a decision that will come down to the final injury report and with it being “concussion like symptoms” clearly the main priority will be Nico’s long-term health.

Heupel is obviously in the loop on the true situation, but I have to say he has looked and sounded pretty chipper since Monday. Even if Gaston ends up taking the snaps on Saturday, he has looked like a coach that is confident in his team and why wouldn’t he be? His team has been in multiple knock down drag out SEC games already this season and they have come out on top in all but one of them. His team is battle tested and has the overall team talent to compete even if Gaston is QB1 come Saturday night.

However, the main reason I think he is confident in his Volunteers heading down to Athens is because they know what to expect this time around. 2 years ago the offense was befuddled and committed a ridiculous amount of pre-snap drive killing penalties. This time I think Heupel has a plan to mitigate that and more importantly a defense he can lean on when the offense does sputter out. This could be Heupel’s next progression as a still young head coach. Can they put a fork in the season of a team with their backs against the wall in their own house? I know Heupel believes his team can but now it’s time to go make believers of everyone.