See, week 13 has dramatically reshaped the college football landscape as several top teams faced unexpected defeats. Big football programs, including Ole Miss and Alabama, got to taste a defeat when playoffs are just around the corner. In such a scenario, Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel and his team had no other option but to win, and guess what? They dominated UTEP, and how? 56-0. But the same offense struggled against a top team a week ago. Yes! In week 11, the Vols played against the Bulldogs and registered their second defeat of the season, 17-31. And their biggest problem that day was their offensive performance. Joel Klatt, an analyst for Fox Sports, exposed Tennessee’s major flaws. 

On November 26, Klatt discussed the big losses of week 12 and the playoffs on The Joel Klatt Show. While talking about the playoffs, he pointed out that Josh Heupel’s negligence can stop his team from entering the playoffs. He mentioned, “I think one of Tennessee’s great flaws is that they don’t have a secondary way to beat you offensively other than just like their systems. That their system doesn’t adjust; you can’t get big; you’ve got to be small all the rather to get into that.” 

Joel highlighted that lack of versatility in their offensive system. If we talk about Nico’s performance against Georgia, it looks like the Bulldogs put him to a test. Although he tried to pull the game and made some impressive throws on his opening drive, a couple of them included passes to tight end Miles. However, the major problem was that in the second half, they lost the rhythm, and Nico failed to take over the game. Now, the biggest question: are they trying to rely on what they are best at?

Georgia completely took over the game and successfully kept the ba-l away from their guests. We saw how the Vols failed to get back in the same. Of course, one can say that it was a bad day, and Kirby Smart’s team was very good on the day. However, considering that the Vols are unlikely to get a bye in the first round, they are likely to travel again to face one of the heavy hitters. Who could it be?

Well, if it’s a Big 10 team, Josh Heupel’s men could face a cold-weather game. SEC teams are not known to play in such a game. Add to that Heupel’s failure to throw something else at the opponent’s defense when Plan A doesn’t work. But it looks like he is happy with how his offense is performing. Let’s see how he reacted to their recent performance.  

Josh Heupel backed Nico Iamaleava and his O-line

Vols got to taste their second defeat of the season in week 11. Kirby Smart and his squad took the responsibility to break their winning streak, and they also did a favour to Josh and the staff by letting them know that they needed some improvement in the offense. Now that the offense has outperformed their opponents in Week 13, here is what Heupel said about their Week 14 opponents. 

“They play complementary football. They’re smart. They’re tough. They’re physical. They’re disciplined. They make you earn it. Offensively, the quarterback [Pavia] is a dynamic player. It’s a quarterback-run game. He has a unique ability to extend and make plays outside of the scope of the play call, too. And defensively, they don’t give up a bunch of big plays; they play assignment sound. Special teams—you look at what they’re doing—the punt returner is dynamic. And their punt game, their punter changes the field. So, it’s a huge test for us and one we’ve got to get prepared for and get ready for and practice well and get ready to go play well on Saturday afternoon.”

We all know Nico has been doing well, but there is a big difference between a ranked and an unranked team. However, the Vols can’t afford to take Vanderbilt lightly. We already saw how it panned out when Bama made that mistake. Moreover, Heupel has the added motivation of a playoff berth after multiple SEC teams faltered in Week 13.