Tennessee Football: A tale of two teams
Anyone who watched the Vol’s Offensive performance in the Swamp knows that they struggled mightily. “Out of sorts” is a generous way to describe the Vol offense so far. Pre-snap penalties and missed assignments on the offensive line have put the offense behind the 8-ball far too often in the young season. The tempo has also been lacking which is supposed to be the calling card of Josh Heupel’s system. I think the big reason for the tempo being slower than Vol fans expect has a lot to do with the frequency of 3rd downs the Vols have been encountering. That and the insertion of Joe Milton at Quarterback, who just doesn’t seem comfortable at all operating the offense at Mach speeds. Vol Fans should have some hope that the offense will improve though as Cooper Mays is very close to being back at center, and most of the mistakes that the Vols have been making on offense are very fixable (Pre-snap penalties, dropped balls, missed assignments). Today I want to address a different issue though, and that is the question of why the Vol offense performs far worse in road environments.
You might say “Well obviously the offense will put up fewer points on the road when it’s noisier” and you’re right that is true, but the Vol offense doesn’t just perform a little bit worse, they fall off a cliff. The last 3 times the Vols have played a road game (@ Vanderbilt doesn’t count) they have lost the game, and the offense only scored 67 points combined in those 3 games. That’s good for 22.3 points per game which does not bode well for winning many contests. The Vol offense scored the most points in college football last year at 44.5 points per game, but if you factor in just the last three true road games that would’ve put the Vols at 95th in the country in points per game.
It’s not normal for an offense to be this Jekyll and Hyde based on where the game takes place, and I think Heupel could do a better job of making it easier for his offense on the road. For starters why does the snap count have to be based on a clap from the QB when the stadium is shaking? Lots of things can sound like a clap when you’re flustered in a tough road environment, and it has probably led to more than its fair share of the pre-snap penalties we’ve been seeing. The next wrinkle that could make it easier is going with tempo even on 3rd down. Heupel and the staff have made a habit of breaking down the look the defense is giving them before most 3rd down plays and changing the play accordingly. That’s all fine and dandy but giving the home crowd a chance to get worked into a froth for 35 seconds does not bode well for communication of whatever audible you’re trying to make.
The offensive struggles on the road are troubling. A lot of what’s wrong with the offense looks like operational issues, and Heupel needs to figure out these issues quickly if he wants to see more success on the road. After all the Vols did make big plays on Saturday night, but it was the little mistakes that seemed to keep them spinning their tires in the mud. I do know for a fact though that Heupel shows up on Saturdays to put up points and 22.33 points is what he expects in the first quarter. I hope Heupel is having nightmares of the scoreboard showing 16 at the end of the game Saturday and is looking for any way to produce more during the Vols’ next road game in Tuscaloosa.