Tennessee coach Josh Heupel sounded on Monday like someone who couldn’t care less about the first College Football Playoff rankings that were released Tuesday night.
“Playoff rankings at this point do not matter,” he said. “You do not have control over it. What you have control over is your preparation and how you play. Ultimately, that determines where you are at or where you are not at.”
Where the Volunteers wound up at in the first poll was seventh, putting them firmly in position to make the 12-team field as long as they keep winning. They aim to do that Saturday night in Knoxville, hosting Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State for Homecoming.
Tennessee (7-1, 4-1) trails SEC co-leaders Georgia and Texas A&M by a half-game but has a game in hand on both teams. It finishes conference play at Georgia and Vanderbilt, giving it a chance to either make a powerful closing statement or play itself out of the CFP.
The Volunteers are coming off a 28-18 home win last week against Kentucky as Dylan Sampson ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns, setting the program’s single-season school record for rushing scores with 19. It stood 95 years, originally set by Gene McIver in 1929 with 18.
Sampson, a junior, needs just 20 yards to reach 1,000 for the year and 19 to get to 2,000 for his career. He’s become the focal point of the Tennessee offense after quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s slump following a hot start.
Iamaleava has thrown for 1,705 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions this year. Sampson and the team’s defense, which has allowed only 12.4 points per game — fifth in FBS — have taken up slack for Iamaleava.
For Heupel, the month of November comes down to one thing.
“We have to continue to grow and get better,” he said.
As for Mississippi State (2-7, 0-5), it’s coming off a 45-20 rout of Massachusetts last week that enabled it to snap a seven-game losing streak. The Bulldogs have been competitive in most of their SEC losses, with the exception of a 58-25 blowout two weeks ago against Arkansas.
One factor that helped Mississippi State end its lengthy skid was cranking up the ground game. It averaged eight yards a carry against the Minutemen and collected five touchdowns on the ground. Three different players rushed for at least 69 yards, including 92 from Johnnie Daniels.
“I think we finished in better body positions in the core at the line of scrimmage,” said Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby. “That gives those backs a chance to run through tracks and create some space for those guys. I thought our guys did a pretty good job of winning some one-on-ones.
“To me, that’s the difference. Instead of gaining four (yards), you have the ability to run through tracks and get 11 (yards).”
Michael Van Buren Jr., who threw for 222 yards against Massachusetts, is completing 57.1 percent of his passes for 1,323 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.
Tennessee owns a 29-16-1 lead in the teams’ series. This will be their first matchup in five years.
