Comment from Vols OC Joey Halzle shows why fans should feel optimistic about Tennessee's offense in the postseason
If the Tennessee Vols are going to make a deep run in the College Football Playoff, their offense will need to produce at a higher level than it did during the regular season. The Vols' offense was "off" at times during the 2024 season. Tennessee did plenty of good things on the offensive side of […]
If the Tennessee Vols are going to make a deep run in the College Football Playoff, their offense will need to produce at a higher level than it did during the regular season.
The Vols' offense was "off" at times during the 2024 season. Tennessee did plenty of good things on the offensive side of the ball in the first 12 games of the season, but they weren't as explosive in the passing game as they could've been.
One theory as to why Tennessee's offense hasn't been as prolific in 2024 is that opponents are "figuring out" Josh Heupel's system.
There's probably some truth to that — the more a team plays against an offensive system, the better they'll be at defending against it — but that's not the main reason that Tennessee's offense struggled at times in 2024 according to Vols offensive coordinator Joey Halzle.
Halzle, who is in his second season as Tennessee's offensive coordinator (his fourth year overall at UT), told reporters on Tuesday that the Vols' offensive issues during the regular season were mainly due to a lack of execution.
"This team hasn’t blinked when we’ve had tough situations," said Halzle. "You start off the season and everyone’s lighting the world on fire. And then the biggest thing for us as we were working through, and we were having our first-half struggles was, man, it was us, which was a positive thing as we were talking to guys. Like if it’s us, if we’re the issue, then man, we can solve it. There was never an issue of being stopped.
"We were driving down the field and something would happen, and the biggest thing that we would talk about is we don’t get to take our turn. Let’s all make a concerted effort not to take our turn — it’s not going to be me on this one. And if we’re all playing like that, then we’re not going to have the self-inflicted wounds that end drives. Whether it was a turnover, whether it was a penalty, whether it was a [missed assignment], whatever it may be, just don’t take your turn."
“You don’t have to play stressed," continued Halzle. "You don’t have to play uptight. But man, play according to your fundamentals, play according to your teaching and everything else takes care of itself, and that’s what you’ve seen on the back half, is we’re just not getting in our own way as we get drives going anymore. You don’t get in your own way, it’s helpful. These defenses are too good. If you help them, it’s really hard to stay on the field.”
The big plays have been there for the Vols' offense this season, but drops, missed throws, and pass protection issues have prevented some of those big plays from happening.
If Tennessee can simply execute at a higher level, the Vols' offense could quickly resemble the Volunteers' offense in 2022 that led the nation in scoring.
Now is as good of a time as any for Tennessee's offense to finally "click" for a full a 60 minutes.
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