No one is talking about the major mistake that Josh Heupel made against Texas that shows an issue Tennessee continues to struggle with
Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel still needs to improve in one important area.
Unlike a lot of people on the internet, I’m actually pretty optimistic about the Tennessee Vols going forward after their tough 20-17 loss to the Texas Longhorns.
But that doesn’t mean I think Tennessee — or head coach Josh Heupel — should be absolved from criticism.
There are plenty of areas where the Vols need to improve after the loss to Texas. Offensive line, play-calling, quarterback decision-making, etc.
Another area where Tennessee still needs to improve is end-of-game situations.
Josh Heupel still isn’t good at managing end-of-game situations.
I think Heupel is a good coach. I think he’s about the right stuff, but there’s always room to improve. And I think Heupel absolutely still needs to improve in end-of-game (and end-of-half) situations.
It was my big criticism of him last season. It nearly cost the Vols a win against Mississippi State, and it showed up in losses to Alabama and Oklahoma.
On Saturday against Texas, we saw Heupel again botch an end-of-game situation.
Tennessee’s final drive against Texas — after recovering the onside kick — was a disaster. Penalties, an injury, and poor pass protection prevented the Vols from moving the ball while also costing the team critical seconds on the clock.
But Tennessee, despite everything going wrong, still had a chance for a last second Hail Mary.
And the Vols rushed it.
I have no idea why Heupel and the offensive staff weren’t screaming to spike the ball there. By the time the Vols lined up after the completion to DaSaahn Brame, there was only time for one more play.
There was no need to run a play in that situation — especially after Tennessee’s wide receivers had to sprint back to the line of scrimmage. And it’s not like the Vols were catching Texas off guard. The Longhorns had their secondary playing deep to defend the Hail Mary.
Heupel should’ve called for the spike and gotten the proper personnel on the field (Brame, for example, ran a short route on the Hail Mary when he could’ve been helping protect Brandon).
Maybe the Hail Mary falls incomplete anyway, but Brandon certainly would’ve had a better chance to complete something if it wasn’t so rushed (it was a miracle Brandon even got a throw off).
I like Heupel. I think he’s the right guy for Tennessee. But he’s got to manage end-of-game situations better.
