Tennessee held the ball for 42:11 in their 22-7 win over Texas A&M on Saturday, and they only attempted 18 passes.

Most of those pass attempts came in the first half with sophomore George MacIntyre at quarterback (he was 13-of-17 for 109 yards).

True freshman Faizon Brandon replaced MacIntyre in the second half (due to MacIntyre getting banged up), and he attempted just one pass (a five-yard touchdown pass to tight end DaSaahn Brame).

Part of the reason the Vols didn’t throw the ball was because the ground game was working in the second half and they didn’t want to put the ball in harm’s way.

The other reason is likely because of the wind in College Station on Saturday.

Aggies head coach Mike Elko was asked after the game to describe his offense in one word.

“Pathetic,” said Elko.

He was also asked why his team wasn’t able to find any success in the passing game (Texas A&M completed 11-of-25 passes).

“The wind played a big role,” explained Elko. “The (pass) rush played a bigger role. Our inability to give (QB Marcel Reed) any time to see anything — they’re very multiple on defense — so the pressure created a massive challenge trying to do anything.”

It seems clear that combination of a conservative game plan — which has worked for the Vols all season — and windy conditions took the passing game out of the equation for Tennessee in the second half.

And hey, that’s what the Vols had to do to get a win on Saturday, and it worked very well.

You never know how a game is going to play out. The best coaches adapt on game day and do what has to be done to win that day. Vols head coach Josh Heupel has done that as well as anyone this season, and it’s the top reason why Tennessee is in a position to make the College Football Playoff with two weeks remaining in the regular season.