Josh Heupel recaps Music City Bowl loss, Tennessee preparing for 2026
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Tennessee’s 2025 football season concluded Tuesday in the Liberty Mutual Music City Bowl.
Illinois (9-4, 5-4 Big Ten) defeated No. 23 Tennessee (8-5, 4-4 SEC), 30-28, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.
Fifth-year head coach Josh Heupel recapped the Vols’ performance and discussed Tennessee entering 2026.
“Disappointing result,” Heupel said. “Didn’t play clean enough in any phase of the game to get a win, and give credit to Illinois, but certainly a lot of things that we got to do better. Did like the way the guys, after a bad start in the second half, how they came back and responded to that and continued to compete. Just didn’t get it done in the end, so offense, defense, special teams, coaches, all together, so disappointed in that.
“Hard to say goodbye to some of these seniors. Look at some of those guys that suited up, chose to be here to play with their teammates. Got a ton of respect for all of them and who they are and what they’ve done inside of our program. Extremely proud of them and challenge our guys that, obviously everybody’s disappointed, but this has got to be something that you take with you through the offseason, and use as motivation, and give us a chance to get better and get stronger, and we’ll be back ready to roll in ’26. I can promise you that.”
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This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Josh Heupel recaps Tennessee’s loss to Illinois, Vols ready for 2026
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