Tennessee’s football season came to an end Saturday night as Ohio State dominated the Vols 42-17 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

The Buckeyes jumped out to an early 21-0 lead and largely coasted from there on out, as they absolutely dominated Tennessee in every phase of the game.

Following the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed the issues in the passing game, his disappointment with the fans showing up and more. Here’s everything Heupel said.

More from RTI: Four quick takeaways as Ohio State torches Tennessee in the College Football Playoff

Opening speech

“First of all, I would like to thank our fans. I don’t know how many actually showed up, but there were a lot of oranges who decided to make the trip. Appreciate them. Disappointed in them. Disappointed with our team and everything we’ve put into this team since last January that we didn’t train and play better early on this season.

There was no phase of the football game where we performed the way we needed to at the start of the game. At the end of the second quarter we came back and made a few plays to tighten the game, but it just didn’t work well. The start of the third quarter was also enough.

That’s thanks to them. But he just didn’t do what you need to do in an away game against a really good football team. Disappointed with all these agreements.

I spoke to the players in the dressing room and everyone was obviously disappointed. But there are also a lot of guys who played the last game in a Tennessee jersey that we are really proud of. Many of these people have been with us since we started this journey when I was first hired. Great leaders, great people, great players and contributed a lot to what we have built.”

What went wrong on defense and what injuries there were on offense

“Yes, defensively we had a chance to get off the field in the first series; Expect a game penalty at the end. Some of this will happen over the course of a game. There were a few busts in coverage and they made some plays too. That will happen against a good team.

What we haven’t done, however, is come back and find a way to get on the right side, defensively and offensively; it’s all of them.

When we started, there were people who had been out for a few weeks who we thought could play in this game but would probably be somewhat limited. The injuries started piling up right at the start of the game.”

About Tennessee’s inability to get open receivers on the field

“It’s never just one thing. At the beginning of the football game we had problems with the defense. I thought Nico did a good job with his feet on some plays over time. We didn’t break up at times and it was a combination of a lot of different things.

At the start of the first couple series we were just behind the chains and weren’t able to get a 3rd down and then compare that to what was going on on the other side of the ball and the scoreboard splayed out little and they could put their ears back.

For us we are losing a few good players. What Bru has done in his career, who he is; Dont’e what he did this season. Really proud of his growth. We’ve got to find some guys to step up and make plays, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

What is stopping the program from taking the next step?

“Well, we have to play better. We have to train better. Ohio State is a good football team. Tonight wasn’t exactly one of our best performances this year, and so at the end of the day we have to continue to grow. We’ll start over and begin the process of retooling, rebuilding and growing as a football team.

Two years ago, I don’t know, we were sixth in the country. There is a standard in our building and we will continue to grow.”

Question whether Dylan Sampson’s hamstring was an issue before the game

“Yeah, at the end of the Vandy game I had a bump, it was soft tissue and had been out for the first couple of weeks and came back to us. I started setting it up over the course of the week. I felt like he was in a good place. I expected that he wouldn’t have the same stress that he normally would. I just redid it at the beginning of the game and it wasn’t available there for a while.”

On if there is additional disappointment due to fan support at the game

“Yes, it is something very special what our fans have achieved. Yes, a lot of disappointment in our dressing room for everyone who invested. There’s so much work involved. But our fans were absolutely disappointed with tonight’s performance. The number of people who traveled. But it’s every week. It’s 365 days a year. Absolutely disappointed in them.”

Whether he knows what pieces this team needs to take the next step

“Man, we’re going to go back and look at this in flight. People who were watching us, it wasn’t our best football tonight. When you play against a good football team, the margins are small and you’re not on the right side. It doesn’t have to look like tonight, but it won’t look good. At the end of the day, we’re capable of playing better than we did tonight, and that doesn’t take anything away from Ohio State.”

What lessons will they learn from this game?

“There will be a lot of little things, just in the game and in the details of our tasks. But no matter when your season ends, every year is new. They start rebuilding. When I say that, you can’t skip any of these steps. So when we have our people back, we will begin that process.”

In cold weather, injuries can affect play

“Well, the injuries were certainly a factor. But listen, the college football season is long, and you have to find the next guy to step up. At the end of the day, we didn’t perform as well as we should have, whether it was a starter or a backup.”

To the performance of Nico Iamaleava

“Yeah, the kid is going to put it all on the line and compete with everything he has and he did that tonight. There are some things he wants back and that could be a read, a throw, but he kept playing and fighting.

There were a lot of movers and shakers in our staff around him and when you play that position you have to let the guys around you play at a high level too. I said at the beginning that we just didn’t train well and didn’t play well enough as a group to do the things we need to do in this game.”

About dealing with transfer portal stuff during game prep

“Yes, I think anyone who follows the sport understands that it is a unique time of year. I am not responsible for this. Do I think they need to find a way to go through all the processes they have in place or things that are in play, but find a better calendar to do it? Yes, I think that would definitely be best for the game.

But at the end of the day, I won’t be using any of it for tonight. We just didn’t play well enough, didn’t train well enough.”

About where Ohio State’s roster ranks compared to others they’ve seen

“They played really well. Going into it, I thought their skills on both sides of the ball were as good as you’ll see. Defensively, they led the country or were top 5 in nearly every category. They did a good job tonight.

We weren’t efficient in the run game early and got to the quarterback early, and when you combine those two things, you have problems on offense.”

Why Tennessee didn’t perform well tonight

“Yeah, I don’t know. As far as preparation goes, the guys that have been with us for the two weeks of this preparation, I think they’ve done a really good job and tonight’s performance doesn’t change my view of what they did on the practice field and in the field during their preparation.

I didn’t do some things this evening. Was beaten on the perimeter in some one-on-one situations, including at the line of scrimmage. At the end of the day, there are a few busts and they make big plays and they’ve done it – they’re on the right side of the scoreboard and they provide some separation, which changes the way the game is played a little bit . You combine all of these things…”

On his message to the team after the game

“You know, I think at the end of the season, even after a really disappointing performance tonight, at the end I realized what the team had done over the course of the season. I think that’s important.

The guys that were involved in developing this program, that I talk about in the locker room, the seniors that you lose, what they meant to this program. But I started to realize how disappointing this was. I think everyone better let that sink in because it has to fuel you for whatever comes next and that goes for the guys coming back. It’s also the boys who leave. You have to grow and use that to push yourself forward.”

If the series of scrimmage battles were surprising

“I thought we handled some of these things better than we did tonight.”