Josh Heupel offers candid response to issue of scoring late against Missouri instead of taking a knee

Josh Heupel was asked about the issue that came up late against Missouri, when Tennessee scored when the game was already in hand.

At his Monday press conference, Heupel said the Tennessee backups were in the game, and when the ball went to the 1-yard line, “It absolutely went through my mind (to knee),” Heupel said. “Don’t know what the right thing was to do there at that moment. At the end of the day, our guys continue to play football.”

For his part, Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on Saturday was asked about the scenario and said he had no issue with the Vols. Drinkwitz added that it’s his job to get Missouri to play better late in the game.

“He coaches his team,” Drinkwitz said. “I coach our team. I got no issues with their team and what they do.”

The final score was 66-24 after Tennessee scored with 36 seconds remaining on a 2-yard run by Dylan Sampson. That was setup by a 58-yard pass to Squirrel White. Before that, Ramel Keyton caught a 46-yard touchdown pass with 5:43 remaining to make the margin 59-24.