Josh Heupel learned a tough lesson in Tennessee’s win against Mississippi State by making a mistake that can’t happen again
The Tennessee Vols escaped Starkville with a wild win over Mississippi State on Saturday evening. A lot went wrong for Tennessee in its 41-34 win against Mississippi State, but the Vols made enough plays to move to 4-1 and avoid a loss that would’ve put their College Football Playoff hopes on life support. The game […]
The Tennessee Vols escaped Starkville with a wild win over Mississippi State on Saturday evening.
A lot went wrong for Tennessee in its 41-34 win against Mississippi State, but the Vols made enough plays to move to 4-1 and avoid a loss that would’ve put their College Football Playoff hopes on life support.
The game probably shouldn’t have gone to overtime, but Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel’s questionable clock management at the end of regulation robbed the Vols of a game-winning field goal attempt.
Josh Heupel needs to learn a lesson from his brutal clock management
Tennessee tied the game at 34 with just 1:55 left in the fourth quarter. The Vols’ defense then quickly forced a three-and-out from Mississippi State’s offense.
It was a dream scenario for the Vols — 1:23 left in the game and all three timeouts with the score knotted at 34.
Heupel, though, only used one of those timeouts during a seven-play drive that ended with a 44-yard Hail Mary attempt as time expired in the fourth quarter.
The Vols had plenty of time (and timeouts) to get into field goal range. But Heupel, who was likely trying to make sure he didn’t leave Mississippi State too much time, was a little too cavalier in his attempt to bleed clock (nearly 40 seconds ran off the clock after the first play of the drive).
Heupel got away with the gaffe this time, but he may not be so lucky in the future.
Saturday wasn’t the coaching staff’s finest day. Tennessee, though, found a way to win in a challenging environment. And ultimately, that’s all that matters. But there are some lessons to be learned in the way the clock was managed in the final moments of regulation.
Heupel likes to say that good teams get better as the season goes along.
The same is true of good coaches. And game management late in the game (the end of the Vols’ loss to Georgia had some questionable decisions, too) is an area where Heupel needs to improve moving forward.
Tennessee Volunteers News
SEC Network announcer goes viral for hilarious mistake during Tennessee vs. Mississippi State game
SEC Network play-by-play announcer Dave Neal went viral during Saturday’s matchup between the Tennessee Vols and the Mississippi State Bulldogs for a hilarious gaffe he made in the second half. In the third quarter, with Mississippi State trailing 20-17, the Bulldogs attempted a 42-yard field goal. The attempt was shanked to the right — the […]
