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Josh Heupel admits he regrets not calling timeout after chunk play on final drive
By Ethan Stone
Published:
Josh Heupel’s Tennessee squad was about as unimpressive on offense as they’ve been across his entire tenure Saturday night.
But armed with 2 timeouts with 1 minute and 17 seconds to go, the Vols still had a chance to win the ballgame in Fayetteville, Arkansas Saturday night. And that drive started about as well as it could.
Nico Iamaleava, who had a rough game, was able to connect with Dont’e Thornton, who worked well with his redshirt freshman QB to find an opening in the Razorbacks secondary. Iamaleava heaved a slightly off-kilter, but catchable ball that Thornton wrangled in beautifully. The Vols were now at the Arkansas 25 with a shot to win the game.
But instead of using one of his 2 timeouts, Heupel decided to let Tennessee play it out. That decision cost the Vols 20 seconds that they desperately needed and allowed for only 4 more plays instead of 5 or 6. More importantly, it would have given his redshirt freshman QB time to calm his nerves and prepare for the next play.
On Monday, Heupel admitted that he should have called that timeout. He said he thought the Vols would be more prepared to get off the snap at a quicker pace.
Josh Heupel admits that he wishes he would have called a timeout following Dont’e Thornton’s catch on the final series of the game.
Felt like they were more prepared to get the snap off at the time than they actually were.
— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 7, 2024
The Vols are back in action this weekend against Florida, which is playing its best football of the season right now. The Gators downed a good UCF team last week and have been known to give the Vols fits in the past, regardless of their final record.
Kickoff for Week 7’s battle in Knoxville is set for 7 p.m. Saturday evening.
Ethan Stone is a Tennessee graduate and loves all things college football and college basketball. Firm believer in fouling while up 3.
