Tennessee Vols won't be a true championship contender until one big issue is fixed
There's plenty that the Tennessee Vols need to fix moving forward after a tough 19-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks to kick off October. Tennessee looked completely out of sorts in all three phases of the game. Execution, effort, poise, coaching, etc. It all has to be better if Tennessee is going to turn their […]
There's plenty that the Tennessee Vols need to fix moving forward after a tough 19-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks to kick off October.
Tennessee looked completely out of sorts in all three phases of the game. Execution, effort, poise, coaching, etc. It all has to be better if Tennessee is going to turn their season around.
The biggest issue that needs to be fixed, however, is the excessive amount of penalties committed by UT players. This is something that's been an issue at times for the Vols under Josh Heupel. And it was a big reason why Tennessee could never "get going" against the Razorbacks.
Tennessee committed 10 penalties for 60 yards against Arkansas. And it felt like all of those penalties came at the worst possible times for the Vols.
UT's first offensive drive of the game was doomed after an illegal man downfield penalty erased a 15 yard gain.
False starts, offsides penalties, and some holding calls hurt Tennessee throughout the night. The most devastating penalty, though, was when Jordan Ross was called for running into the punter in the fourth quarter, which gave Arkansas a first down. That penalty allowed Arkansas to run a couple of more minutes off the clock before connecting on a field goal to end the drive.
If Tennessee gets the ball back there, maybe they march down the field and score (it would've been a 21-10 lead for the Vols instead of a 14-13 lead). That penalty may have completely changed the game. And that's not to pick on Ross — everyone on Tennessee's roster needs to play more disciplined — his penalty just happened to come in a situation where it hurt the Vols a little more than some of the other penalties.
Tennessee isn't going to win tough games on the road if they're playing undisciplined football. It's hard enough to win on the road in the SEC without bailing out your opponent with dumb penalties.
Heupel and his staff need to figure out a way to cut down on the penalties. It's on them to get it fixed. Otherwise, the Vols will go from contender to pretender.
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