What Josh Heupel Told His Team After Tennessee Defeated UTSA

Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was happy with his team’s energy and preparation on the practice field this week as the Vols looked to bounce back from their SEC opening loss at Florida.

It manifested with a dominant first half that saw Tennessee take a 7-0 lead on the first play from scrimmage and a 31-0 lead by halftime. The Vols couldn’t redeem their loss at Florida against UTSA but they responded in the first half as well as you could expect.

“The first half, starting fast, being efficient, blocking well, big runs,” Heupel said. “Joe obviously starts the game with a huge play off of his read key. We were efficient in the pass game too.”

But a dominant as Tennessee’s first half was, its third quarter was just as underwhelming. After totaling four total first half first downs, UTSA went four-for-four on third downs on its 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half.

After the Vols went three-and-out on their first drive of the second half, UTSA answered with a four play touchdown drive that gave the Roadrunners a 14-0 third quarter advantage.

The poor third quarter was a point of emphasis from Heupel to his team in the locker room following the win.

“I also said in the locker room that it’s a fine line,” Heupel said. “It’s, again, a reminder for the competitive edge that you’ve got to have and continue to keep during the course of a ball game too.”

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Obviously the result of the lackluster third quarter wasn’t overly costly. Tennessee’s lead was already so large that UTSA never threatened to make it a game but the bad quarter kept the Vols from getting Nico Iamaleava and other Tennessee backups key snaps in the lopsided win.

It also kept Tennessee from playing its first truly complete game of the season. The Vols have had offensive lulls every time they’ve taken the field this season and they failed to clear that hurdle against UTSA.

What went wrong for Tennessee during the poor third quarter?

A great deal of the credit goes to UTSA and particularly quarterback Owen McCown who sparked the Roadrunners when he replaced Eddie Lee Marburger at halftime. Missed tackles cost Tennessee on both of UTSA’s touchdown drives including on Tykee Ogle-Kellog’s 43-yard touchdown catch and run.

Offensively, the issues started in the passing game. After starting the first half by completing 14-of-16 passing attempts for 156 yards and two touchdowns, quarterback Joe Milton struggled to open the second. The veteran signal caller completed just one of his first seven passes in the second half while the Vols totaled just one first down and 14 yards on their first two drives of the second half.

“Got to block well up front,” Heupel said of the offensive lull. “Got to give the quarterback time. Got to go win one-on-ones. Quarterback has to be accurate with the ball. I know that sounds redundant a little bit but at the end of the day that’s what we have to do. The efficiency in the run game in the middle of the game too was a part of it. All of it has to play together.”

Tennessee’s third quarter struggles didn’t cost them against UTSA. But as they enter a stretch of four straight SEC games, they’ll need to be much more consistent. Heupel knows it and it’s why he harped on the point to his team following the win.