Saturday will be something of a homecoming for Josh Heupel.

The Tennessee head coach has a significant history with Oklahoma. He was the starting quarterback for the Sooners in 2000, when they finished 13-0 and won the national championship. He then returned in 2008, spending seven years on the coaching staff.

Now, he leads the No. 6-ranked Vols into Norman this weekend (6:30 p.m. CT, ABC) for a heavily-anticipated showdown between two ranked teams. The Vols are a touchdown favorite to beat the Sooners as the road team.

Here are some of the notable things Heupel said during Monday's press conference about his team and his return to Norman:

(Editor's note: The transcript has been edited for length and clarity).

"It'll be unique. I had teammates and friends back there. They hit me up a little bit early. They were starting last week already. It'll be unique going back into that stadium. It's going to be a viewpoint, I'm not sure I've ever spent a day on the opposing sideline inside of that stadium, not even for a scrimmage. So it'll be different, but it's one that I'm really looking forward to. There's so many people that have been a huge part of my journey that I get a chance to go back and hopefully get a chance to say hi to a bunch of them. You know, it starts with teammates. It's coaches that I had. It's a lot of coaches that I coached with. There's a lot of personnel that's still there, guys that I coached, guy that was in my wedding. There's a lot of people back there that I'm familiar with and have a lot of respect for."

"He takes great care of the football. You know, I think he's got great command and presence in what they're doing offensively. He has the ability to use his feet to make things right. That can be when the pocket breaks down. Design, quarterback run read game. You know, he's a really talented young player."

"I'm good with any question about Oklahoma. You know, like the opportunity that I got, you know, from Bob and from Mike to come there and play. What we were able to build there in a short amount of time as a player but then my coaching career, from the guys that I played for to all the coaches that were there during my career, all made a huge impact on me. And I wouldn't be here today at Tennessee if I didn't have all those experiences. So, tremendously grateful for all those people. You know, Brent is somebody that I learned and grew from as a young coach so much and a ton of respect for him."

"Should be a great crowd. It's a passionate fan base. I'm expecting them to be extremely quiet for us out of respect to me and our program, too."

"10 is the right number. Their front really active. They play tight coverage on the back end with all the structure that they show you on the back end. They play really assignment sound. They understand where they're supposed to be in recognizing patterns and getting into windows. They tie all three phases, all three levels of the defense in extremely well. And then when you have the ball in your hands, they're extremely active, punching, ripping, putting their hat on the ball. You know, they've changed the way the game's played with a lot of those turnovers."

"No pregame throws on the road, so not sure if my kids will be able to make it yet, but we're working on that."

"A guy that, again, I got so much respect for, got a great family, somebody that poured into me as a young coach and learned so much from him. He's as good as they come. When you look at what he's done, you know, historically as a defensive coordinator, a lot of respect. Huge challenge for us this week."

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