George MacIntyre hints at play call on crucial fourth down mistake in Tennessee’s loss to South Carolina
The Vols appeared set to go back to a successful call earlier in the game.
The Tennessee Vols dropped a crucial contest on Saturday night, falling to the South Carolina Gamecocks 27-24 at the gun. It was a game where Tennessee led for almost all of the second half and had put themselves in position to put the game away late in the fourth quarter.
With under four minutes left and facing a fourth-and-1 at the South Carolina 38-yard line, Tennessee lined up in a power formation, something that’s worked very well for the Vols in recent weeks. DeSean Bishop had gotten dinged up on the play before and was on the sideline.
So, it seemed as though Javin Gordon, or perhaps even tight end DaSaahn Braame, was set to take the handoff. Instead, George MacIntyre held the ball and ran around, tackled for a loss. It was a mystifying moment, and one that gave the Gamecocks the opportunity to ultimately rally to tie and then win it.
So what what was that play supposed to be? Josh Heupel was pretty mum about the call after the game, with a short comment on the execution.
It seems as though it was another designed run to TE DaSaahn Brame, or perhaps a play off of it
“Just missteps by George on that one,” Heupel said.
No follow up question or explanation followed. However, MacIntyre was asked about the play after the game and offered up a little bit more insight.
“Just simple miscommunication,” MacIntyre said. “A formation we’ve been running all game. Just got to be more locked into the details of different plays in the big jumbo formation.
MacIntyre was later asked a follow up question if it was supposed to be a handoff to Brame or a toss. And based on MacIntyre’s response, it appears it was to go to Brame.
“There are a lot of moving parts of a play with kills and checks and what fronts they are going to run, but yeah, it would have been similar to DaSaahn’s touchdown in the first half.”
It’s unfortunate for Tennessee because they’ve been outstanding in jumbo/power formation in short yardage this year, and you’d have to like their chances of converting there and being able to run another couple minutes off the clock, at worst, while inching into field goal range.
Instead, Tennessee now will have to use the bye week to figure out how to avoid similar mistakes in a season that now has no additional margin for playoff error.
