Tennessee players and coaches had ample time to think about next week late Saturday night.

If they were, they're not letting on. The No. 7 Vols routed Kent State, 71-0 behind a record-breaking offensive performance at Neyland Stadium one week before Tennessee goes on the road for the first time to open league play against No. 15 Oklahoma.

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There's plenty to think about. A top 15 clash, a primetime stage and the story of Vols' head coach Josh Heupel returning to the place where he led the Sooners to their last national title nearly 25 years ago.

As Tennessee (3-0) began to pull its starters after going up 65-0 in the second quarter, their minds drifting to what lay ahead would be understandable, even as they watched third and fourth team players preserve their third shutout in the last four games.

"I look at everybody the same man," Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who finished 10-of-16 passing for 173 yards and a touchdown in less than two quarters, said. "We got our team, they got their team. That's the next opponent that's on our schedule...I'm not looking at this any other way."

Iamaleava was echoing what Heupel said. The questions they fielded after a game in which the Vols posted a program-record 740 yards of total offense and broke records in total points and points in a quarter in the modern era, touched on that performance, but circled back to Oklahoma (3-0).

The answers remained the same.

"I think we're very prepared each week," Tennessee linebacker Jeremiah Telander said. "We take it week by week and the motto's been Tennessee vs. Tennessee. So the battle is against ourselves. I think we're ready for SEC ball and I can't wait to go after it next week."

Through the first three games of the 2024 season, the only team that looks like it could have beaten the Vols is themselves.

The opened with a 69-0 dismantling of Chattanooga. Then a week later in what was expected to be its first test, Tennessee romped a ranked NC State team, 51-10 in Charlotte.

Outside of a second quarter drive in a one score game that ended in a Will Brooks' 85-yard interception return for a touchdown, there hasn't been a point in any of the last three games that haven't felt out of the Vols' control.

"You could only control what you got in the moment, right?," Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson said. "Coach (Heupel) just challenged us to have our same routine, same preparation, next-game mindset. He said, you know, you find a lot who you really are as a team, like weeks like this, you know, the challenge is always us.

"So I mean I think, I think we had a good sharp week and we gonna continue to do that moving forward."

MORE FROM VOLREPORT: Everything Josh Heupel said after dismantling of Kent State

Who Tennessee is right now is a team that hasn't shown any glaring mistakes. What could be considered an off night for the offense against NC State was made up for by a dominant showing from its defense.

After Sampson put up more than 100 yards rushing and two touchdowns, his backup, DeSean Bishop, rushed for 120 yards and two more scores. Iamaleava's lone touchdown pass was caught by Mike Matthews, a freshman playing in his first.

When the coaching staff went deep into the roster to get players defensive reps in the second half vs. Kent State, they played like keeping their streak of keeping teams out of the end zone was a top priority.

For Tennessee, maintaining its routine has driven the early success. It will be key again at Oklahoma (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) next Saturday.

"We're excited for the challenge," Brooks said. "We're ready to face it. We're gonna come prepared and be ready to go."

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