Tennessee Football: Disappointing performance against an FCS opponent

The Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Austin Peay State Governors Saturday night and turned in an uninspiring 30-13 win. Things got strange before the game even got underway as a lightning delay postponed kickoff for 30 minutes resulting in no pre-national anthem prayer (a Tennessee tradition), no national anthem, and no running through the T. Maybe pissing off God and America is the explanation for the abysmal football we saw from the Vols.

The Vols were clearly not focused on this game. If that’s not the case and this team just isn’t talented enough to handle an FCS team at home in front of a sell-out crowd that’s an even bigger concern. The only positive thing from this game is that the Vol defense continued to look solid against some pretty unique formations and plays the Govs were running.

However, the Vol offense Saturday night could be compared to Neanderthals banging rocks together. Inaccurate throws by Joe Milton and the wideouts doing their best Kadarious Toney impersonation led to the passing attack being ineffective for the whole first quarter. Eventually, Josh Heupel had to think about winning the game and went almost exclusively to a screen-heavy passing attack, and running the ball. Even after this adjustment the Vols still remained sloppy by committing drive-killing penalties and stalling out in the redzone multiple times. 30 points against an FCS team requires a serious come-to-Jesus meeting, and the offensive coaching staff needs to ask themselves some questions. Can Joe Milton throw intermediate/downfield balls on time and on target? Will the offensive line be able to clear running lanes against more talented defenses? Does every wide receiver need supervised time on the jugs machine? How can we generate more big plays when the defense drops 6-7 players in coverage? I expect the offense to look themselves in the mirror and get better, but this is the worst Josh Heupel’s Tennessee offense has ever looked during a win.

There’s no good explanation for the poor performance from the Vols Saturday night. Anybody blaming the alternate jerseys, or officiating should go to the neurologist and make sure they have wrinkles on their brain. The bottom line is Josh Heupel failed to realize that young men might overlook an inferior opponent the week before the start of conference play. Pair that with a fired up in-state opponent that came in ready to compete and you get the slop fest displayed Saturday.

However, I believe there is hope for the Vols moving forward. Many times, when a good football team turns in an unexpected stinker, the next time they take the field is a complete 180. Maybe the Vols needed a scare to be fully prepared when they travel down to Gainesville to take on the Gators. I’m sure if Josh Heupel had the choice, he would’ve taken a bad game against Austin Peay instead of a bad game against Florida. This gives Heupel and staff a chance to really point at what can happen if the team comes into a game unfocused. Heupel has earned the benefit of the doubt so far at Tennessee, and I expect him to have the team’s full attention as they prepare to take on the Florida Gators