No. 15 Tennessee (1-0) won its season opening game, 69-3, versus Chattanooga (0-1) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium. Rankings reflect the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll.

Fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel discussed the Vols' win after the game.

"First of all, I just want to thank all the fans," Heupel said. "It was a hot day out there. They showed up early. It was electric. The stadium was juiced right from the beginning. Appreciate all of them coming out tonight. It's been a long time since we have been here, so it's great to see them back again.

"I like a lot of things we did, all three phases of the game. Defensively, I thought the line of scrimmage, we did a really nice job. We played good third down defense, tight coverage for most of it. really a lot of positives on that side of the ball. Offensively, did some really good things early. We have to learn to stay dialed in and finish a half and a quarter of a football game, but all-in-all good things, obviously. Specialists did a really, really good job for most of the game, so we'll open it up."

PHOTOS: Tennessee football defeats Chattanooga in Week 1

Everything Heupel said after Tennessee's win is listed below.

On how good it was to be able to rotate players

"I know somebody in here gave me a hard time for all the ORs that we put on the depth chart, but we are going to play more guys than we have. Our roster is deeper, so when we have the opportunity, we are going to need those guys throughout the course of the season. I think we had 35 guys, it was their first time playing inside of Neyland Stadium, playing in here. There's a lot of positives, and there's a lot of little things that we have to clean up, but it was a good start and obviously we have got a big one next week."

On whether he saw Nico Iamaleava do anything wrong and what he is going to tell him to prepare for Week 2

"Your perspective might be a little different than my perspective, but he knows those things too. He's a young player. He came out and played really efficiently and effectively. Made plays down the field, but there are some things that he can control and be better with. He knows that, and he wants that too."

On Dont'e Thornton Jr.'s performance today and if that shadows his offseason

"You know that last year there was a reduction of scholarships, which in general I haven't made a big deal about from the time that we got here. You end up having to be. You have to make decisions on where you are going to take those, and most of the time we take them on offensive skill guys because you can control your personnel groupings. Dont'e started inside because we were really thin last year. Last year he moved outside in the middle of the season, and he started to play his best football, most comfortable. He gets injured on the long play. Being healthy all offseason and being home on the outside. Just continuing to be extremely comfortable in what we are doing, offensively, and playing really consistent."

On how you can benefit from a game like this

"Well, first, on the scoreboard, you know, but there's a lot of things that we will be able to learn from during the course of this football game."

On Dylan Sampson's ability to still be productive after not getting as much practice time over the offseason

"Yeah, he was limited for a few days, but then he got back in the rotation. He's been healthy for a while, and we expect him to play in the way he did today, decisive, violent cuts and he got pad under pad. Obviously, he has the ability to do anything you should want a running back to do. I'm going to say that, just the ability to play out in space and play at the line active. Love the performance from him today.”

On performances of players returning from injuries

"Keenan Pili, and you know, we’ve had a few guys unfortunately in this game. The contact is real, and through their work and their effort that’s during the rehab process and our weight room, you know, our guys building them back up and ready for the team. All those guys are in a great space and playing really good football, so today was a big day for those guys. Bru’s a captain today, Keenan Pili, because they are that type of leader in their program, so, understanding what they’re coming back from.”

On operating the game and managing penalties

"We’ve got to continue to grow in that way, but relatively efficient and playing clean. Through the course of the game there’s some things that we’ve got to be smarter with, too, that we’ll learn from."

On how big Bru McCoy’s performance was for him after returning from injury

"Huge for him, his family, you know. We saw them in the hotel last night and we were excited, anxious, nervous, and Bru was excited to go play. A great day, you know, he got opportunities to get the ball in his hand, made plays and played really well."

On how helmet communication with Nico Iamaleava went during the game

"He’s had it in our scrimmages, so I thought he handled himself really well. Effective communication, so, went well."

On his defense's performance

"I thought they played really well. I haven't looked at the numbers yet, but the line of scrimmage I know they dominated for a majority of the football game. Maybe gave up a couple of runs. I thought we played tight coverage on the back end as they started to drop back a little bit more. We were able to apply some pressure and get a sack."

On Tyre West’s performance

“Tyre has been really consistent in how he approaches practice every single day. His understanding of our defense has really grown, so instead of thinking while he's playing, he is anticipating, reacting and playing to his full athletic skill set. I'm proud of what he did today and his growth inside of the program.”

On Boo Carter's performance

“I thought he played really well, defensively, he even had some shots with some pressure off the edge they kept contain on him. Saw him back there on certain punts. I'm going to go watch the tape here in a little bit too. We were pleased with him. We really rely on our young guys, who had an opportunity to play, in particularly in the secondary.”

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: Josh Heupel recaps Vols' season opening win