Kirby Smart makes a comment ahead of Georgia vs. Tennessee that supports belief that there’s a misconception surrounding Josh Heupel’s offense
The Bulldogs’ head coach addresses the Vols’ offense to start the week.
The Tennessee Vols have not struggled to put up points for the majority of Josh Heupel’s tenure in Knoxville. While things haven’t been pretty at times – parts of 2023 and 2024 – Tennessee has had a resurgence on the scoreboard since Heupel’s first season back in 2021.
However, Heupel’s offense has been characterized by some as a niche or a “gimmick” offense – words often used by angry or spiteful opposing fans on message boards.
One common misconception it that Tennessee is an “air raid” offense. Heupel called that laughable and had a relatively strong response early last season when he was asked about it at a press conference by a reporter.
Well, Kirby Smart echoed the sentiment about that misconception on Monday when he was giving his opening remarks about the Volunteers.
Smart says some people have a “mistake” about Tennessee’s offense under Heupel
“They’re a playoff team from last year that we’ve had some really, really physical games with,” Smart said. “It’ll be no different. They are built on toughness. Running the ball and stopping the run, which they’re very good at both. I think people have a mistake about their offense that scores so many points, but they are very physical. You look at last year’s game between both teams, both lines of scrimmage were extremely physical, and it’s been that way every time we’ve played each other. Won’t be any different this time.”
The numbers back up the misconception that Smart points out regarding Tennessee’s offense under Heupel. Let’s look back at a true “air raid” offense under Hal Mumme in 1999 at Kentucky. Starting QB Dusty Bonner threw the ball an SEC-leading 465 times. The team totaled 361 rushing attempts on the season.
Conversely, there hasn’t been a season under Heupel at Tennessee where the passing attempts have even come close to the rushing attempts. Heupel has had two seasons with 197 or more rushing attempts than passing attempts – 2021 and 2024. The closest discrepancy was in 2023, when Tennessee totaled 486 rushes and 410 passes.
What Heupel’s offense is is fast paced, and it’s worked to put points on the board, and some of those points have come by way of the big play. But make no mistake, some of those plays come directly from the balance of his offense and the confusion and pressure he creates by playing fast.
Perhaps, finally, that misconception will start to fade away this year.
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It’s going to be a loud environment in Knoxville on Saturday.
