Tennessee Vols given a late opportunity from Arkansas that they weren't able to cash in
The sight of Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava running out of bounds as the clock hit zeroes was a gut-wrenching sight for fans of the Big Orange on Saturday night to cap off a 19-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks. But the video replay shows there was an opening for the Iamaleava and the Vols […]
The sight of Tennessee Vols quarterback Nico Iamaleava running out of bounds as the clock hit zeroes was a gut-wrenching sight for fans of the Big Orange on Saturday night to cap off a 19-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks.
But the video replay shows there was an opening for the Iamaleava and the Vols to have written a different ending. Unfortunately, they couldn't take advantage.
On third-and-5 from the Arkansas 21-yard line with 13 seconds left in the game, the ball was snapped, and Nico surveyed his options (go to the 11:10 mark of the video for the play).
The Vols' two outside receivers ran routes across the field, completely clearing out the right side of the field as their defenders followed right on them, as both the broadcast video and overhead shots indicate. Arkansas had three other defensive backs dropping back into the end zone as well behind them.
Who wasn't fully accounted for was RB Dylan Sampson.
An Arkansas linebacker took a step towards Sampson, looking over at him, but then he returned his focus to Iamaleava in the pocket. Once that disengagement happened, Sampson was completely wide open, with the right side of the field cleared out.
I'm no college football quarterback, but that's one of the beauties of defenses going man coverage on crossing wideouts. The ability to take defenders from one side of the field over to the other and create space on the field to exploit. The Vols indeed vacated space, and they had a player set up to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, they weren't able to make the read and the connection.
It's easy to nitpick plays after the fact, but it's also helpful to see what opportunities are there and where the Vols can be successful moving forward. Nico unquestionably hasn't begun to tap his potential yet and will continue to grow and gain confidence in his first season as a starter.
Eventually, these will very likely be game-winning reads and plays being focused on during his career. Nico's too talented and has too much potential not to succeed. For now, it's just a painful sight of what could have been.
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