Oklahoma coach confirms suspicion about why Tennessee offense wasn't as explosive

[UT97Vol]

Trumped by better coaching by UT

It's been a while since we could say that, eh?

 

[savannahfan]

Oklahoma is well coached on defense and their defense is really good. I just wish the Vols would have ran things off the edges more and tried to stretch things a bit vs trying to continue winning one on ones up the middle when nothing was going. Especially in the 3rd quarter and too many stalled drives, too many punts. Even if just 2 of those drives were extended and resulted in scores. Tennessee needed more points plan and simple, because better teams will make you pay for that.

Luckily the Vols defense didn't crack in the 3rd quarter. Luckily the Vols won the kicking game and field position. But, all pieces have to work in those scenarios. They did for the Vols the other night, but can it against the UGAs and Bubbas of the world?

You make your own luck....

 

[vol94]

It was a double digit win on the road in the SEC in a very difficult environment... I'll take that any day of the week.

UT isn't going to score 50+ every game. It's nice to know they can go win a slugfest!

Exactly. Great teams find a way to win and grind out tough games. I feel better today knowing we can win a low scoring game. Plus, we win on the road vs a team who rarely loses on the rd!!!

 

[vol94]

Oklahoma is well coached on defense and their defense is really good. I just wish the Vols would have ran things off the edges more and tried to stretch things a bit vs trying to continue winning one on ones up the middle when nothing was going. Especially in the 3rd quarter and too many stalled drives, too many punts. Even if just 2 of those drives were extended and resulted in scores. Tennessee needed more points plan and simple, because better teams will make you pay for that.

Luckily the Vols defense didn't crack in the 3rd quarter. Luckily the Vols won the kicking game and field position. But, all pieces have to work in those scenarios. They did for the Vols the other night, but can it against the UGAs and Bubbas of the world?

Probably not but we will get better! It’s easy to forget that this was Nico’s fourth start (not inc bowl game) and first on the road.

Oline must improve but Nico will be better in October.

 

[WillisWG]

"The win wasn't necessarily pretty for the Vols, but it might've been Heupel's best in-game performance as a head coach since taking over at Tennessee in early 2021."

This is the closing sentence from the column, and is 100% true. All the complainers that say we somehow fell short because we didn't run up the score need to see this and get a clue.

It was a 10 point SEC road W over a T15 team on a field where few teams have left with a W. The D shined. Our O faced perhaps the 4th best D in the SEC and we never trailed. The kicking game was great. We won all 3 phases of the game. To me that's darn pretty and something I will take on any Saturday.

 

[Delmar]

UGA and Bama have both looked ugly at times this season vs much weak opponents. So it's hard to know what to expect from them.

We were also the victim of some home cooking in regards to the refs. They weren't terrible. But a couple of crucial calls cost us 14 points. And the no call fumble/roughing the passer call actually was a 14 point swing when you consider it extended a scoring drive for OU. So the final score could have been 21 points worse for OU if those calls were called correctly.

Those were two crucial calls that hurt but I have to disagree on the roughing the passer call on 4th down that extended their drive. By rule if you get a hand to the helmet or facemask, it is a penalty. Our guy didn’t do it on purpose but it doesn’t matter if it’s unintentional. The call was unfortunately correct.

I did think the call on our long pass was questionable. You could call that on any pass play if you chose to.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

Nico is still a young QB so exposure to these type of complex defenses will do nothing but help him in the future. Say what you will about NC State but the 3-3-5 can be a tricky defense for a young QB and he did fairly well. Maybe others will try to emulate it but I don't feel like anyone else we play will play in the same structure those 2 played us.

1. Venables is a top defensive coach.

2. OU front-7 is legit.

3. The field.

4. UT's OL is down a lot of talent and much of the depth is very young.

5. The field.

6. The game composition didn't warrant opening up the playbook much. OU's offense was completely controlled.

7. Night game in a tough environment with a young/inexperienced OL and a QB making his first road start also isn't a place to go big.

8. The field.

9. The refs bailed out OU several times in the 2nd Half.



I want to give OU credit here but I didn't see UT running many routes where the receiver dug in and made a cut. Why? Because that's how you blow out an ACL if you slip. That, in combination with other factors, is a major reason why UT didn't go big. Our big pass plays were almost identical but with small wrinkles to the big pass plays we ran against NCSU and Kent State. OU was very suspect against the deep ball.


UT still put up 17 points and almost 200 yards on offense in the 1st Half.


EDIT: I am NOT A FAN of the single receiver routes. That's going to get Nico killed. We didn't run many relief valve plays where the TE/RB blocks and then releases into the massive gaps in the middle of the field. I found that strange but I'm also not paid millions to coach football.

Bru made an open field move that made a defender fall on his buttocks. But, I agree. The field effected our play.

 

[sami]

Those were two crucial calls that hurt but I have to disagree on the roughing the passer call on 4th down that extended their drive. By rule if you get a hand to the helmet or facemask, it is a penalty. Our guy didn’t do it on purpose but it doesn’t matter if it’s unintentional. The call was unfortunately correct.

I did think the call on our long pass was questionable. You could call that on any pass play if you chose to.

Exactly how I saw it. The face mask was a good call, just sloppy over aggressiveness from Arion, something he'll learn from.

The holding call was BS, but as you said they could call holding on every play if they wanted.

 

[Sea Ray]

It's not because of OU's scheme that we ran it about 50 times and threw it only about 20. We did this because our defense was dominating, we had a big lead and our two starting tackles were out. OU's scheme was no higher than 4th on that list

I do think our running game would benefit from more creative plays than run left, run right. Hopefully they have those "in the can" and we haven't seen them yet

 

[Clad in Big Orange]

The Xbox generation wants gaudy video game scores so they can trash talk on twitter all week to make themselves feel special. Anything more than a one point win in a hostile environment is superfluous. Had Heupel called an aggressive 2nd half and Nico thrown a pick six, these same kids would be ready to fire him.

 

[OrangeBeachVol]

OU had a special D plan for this game. Article quotes their DC they had schemes not used in the first 3 games saving them for this game. They pulled out all the stops possible to win this game, special D, field conditions, etc. Just give the coaches and players credit for overcoming all this on the fly, not easy to do. Don't think OU was expecting our D to dominate their O like we did. That caught them off guard to.

Just a chess match that Hyp won. Probably going to see more of that kind of stuff. Kirby's D is the one that has consistently shut down Hyp's O. Got to figure him out.

 

[MRobVFL]

The offense looked different vs NC ST vs. what we had previously seen.

The offense vs. Oklahoma looked different than what we had previously seen, and different than what we saw vs. NC ST.

It wasn't the blowout we all wanted but it's pretty great that this team and staff can adapt and win games based on how the other side is playing them vs. just trying to boatrace everyone and hoping to have more points at the end.

What we got in Norman was a defensive blowout, which was refreshing to see.

 

[FanDude]

Oklahoma is well coached on defense and their defense is really good. I just wish the Vols would have ran things off the edges more and tried to stretch things a bit vs trying to continue winning one on ones up the middle when nothing was going. Especially in the 3rd quarter and too many stalled drives, too many punts. Even if just 2 of those drives were extended and resulted in scores. Tennessee needed more points plan and simple, because better teams will make you pay for that.

Luckily the Vols defense didn't crack in the 3rd quarter. Luckily the Vols won the kicking game and field position. But, all pieces have to work in those scenarios. They did for the Vols the other night, but can it against the UGAs and Bubbas of the world?

Good points. However, the OU game left me wondering if their defense is as good or better than bammer and UGA. Not saying, but could be. The Sooner defense played us smart and tough on a high level, imo.

 

[ntxVOL]

Good points. However, the OU game left me wondering if their defense is as good or better than bammer and UGA. Not saying, but could be. The Sooner defense played us smart and tough on a high level, imo.

Venables is going to give Kirby a run for his money, as far as, fielding defenses. Not sure OK has quite the same talent as UGA but Venables is a damn good coach.

 

[bpalmer28]

OU's corners covered our guys well most of the night, allowing their safeties to play downhill against the run.

Heupel played it smart and preserved the victory being conversative, knowing the only way Oklahoma could win was to continue forcing turnovers.

 

[The Original Fade]

OU groundskeeper awarded NIL deal per sources

 

[volbound1700]

Heupel is protecting Nico a little at the moment. He saw OU's struggles and back down somewhat and avoided risky pass plays. We can get away with this in next 2 games as well but all bets will be off and gloves will have to come off for Alabama.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

So, good coaching by Oklahoma.

Not good enough.

 

[BelievetheHeup2022]

So, good coaching by Oklahoma.

Absolutely, telling the turf management crew to spray paint the field to cover the worm holes was a solid strategy.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Not good enough.

Right, I read the article as saying they had a good plan, but we adjusted. Never was any kind of criticism of our team or coaching, it just explained they showed some stuff early we hadn't seen. Happens alot first half of a season.

 

[chuck0303]

Bru made an open field move that made a defender fall on his buttocks. But, I agree. The field effected our play.

Although I guess it's fair for both teams, think they soaked the field on purpose. I can understand in one instance they didn't want the field to look dead/burnt as most of TX & OK have been in a drought & they didn't want it to look bad for a national audience & College Game Day, however, think the over watering helped slow our passing attack/blocking. In any case, glad coach made the adjustments & we got the win. Glad we have Heupel!!!!!

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Right, I read the article as saying they had a good plan, but we adjusted. Never was any kind of criticism of our team or coaching, it just explained they showed some stuff early we hadn't seen. Happens alot first half of a season.

OU''s defense and Venables deserve some mad respect.

 

[VolForLife83]

Bru is a different animal this year. Quicker, faster, and hungrier. Need to feed him more.

Bru made an open field move that made a defender fall on his buttocks. But, I agree. The field effected our play.

 

[tennrich1]

Although I guess it's fair for both teams, think they soaked the field on purpose. I can understand in one instance they didn't want the field to look dead/burnt as most of TX & OK have been in a drought & they didn't want it to look bad for a national audience & College Game Day, however, think the over watering helped slow our passing attack/blocking. In any case, glad coach made the adjustments & we got the win. Glad we have Heupel!!!!!

The field condition did seem to be a big factor in the game. The one play IMO that could have really had a negative effect because of field conditions was the slippage by White on the kick I THINK after the safety. Prob adds 20-30 yards on that return if he's able to keep his footing.

 

[agent|orange]

The field condition did seem to be a big factor in the game. The one play IMO that could have really had a negative effect because of field conditions was the slippage by White on the kick I THINK after the safety. Prob adds 20-30 yards on that return if he's able to keep his footing.

Honestly one of the biggest was the pass play from OU where they gained ~50-60 yards. We had not just 1 but 2 players that slipped trying to plant their feet. That field was an embarrassment. If we ran more aggressive routes, I honestly think we would have had several non-contact knee injuries. Surprised we didn't have any at all, to be honest.

One thing I was curious about was our cleats. We wore white cleats in Charlotte which was artificial turf. We wore white cleats at home on real grass against Kent State. We wore white cleats in 22 and 23.

We haven't worn black cleats in a live game in our normal orange/white uniforms in a long time as far as I can remember but did against OU. I wonder what the reason for that was and if it was an attempt to compensate for their field.