Tennessee football dropped its first game of the 2024 season on Saturday night, falling 19-14 at Arkansas as the Vols’ blew an 11-point second half lead.
Each week, we take a look at five critical moments from Tennessee’s game. Typically we include plays that go well for each team and tell the flow of the game. This week, I’m going to look at five potentially overlooked moments that cost Tennessee badly.
More From RTI: PFF Grades From Tennessee’s Loss at Arkansas
A Third-And-15 Bust
Tennessee’s second drive of the game stalled out right on the edge of field goal range. Josh Heupel decided to trust his defense and sent out the punt unit. It looked really smart for a bit.
Jackson Ross pinned Arkansas at the six-yard line and was immediately backed up to its one-yard line after a false start and a near safety. The Razorbacks were in third-and-15 at their own one-yard line when Arion Carter didn’t pick up Ja’Quinden Jackson out of the backfield leading to a 26-yard gain and aa first down.
Arkansas didn’t end up scoring on the drive but instead of Tennessee having what would have been great field position after a third down stop, they had to go the length of the field. It was a chance for an early game swing but Tennessee didn’t capitalize.
Arkansas Quick Response
Tennessee was lucky to be down 3-0 after a terrible first half performance. But after starting the second half with a touchdown, forcing a three-and-out and scoring another touchdown, the Vols lead 14-3 and looked like they would coast to an easy victory.
Instead, Arkansas immediately answered with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. The Razorbacks hit three passes of over 10 yards on the drive and put Tennessee’s defense back on its heels.
Another stop would have helped Tennessee keep building momentum and potentially push its lead further. Instead, Arkansas got right back in the game.
Jordan Ross Runs Into The Punter
Tennessee picked up one first down and then punted following Arkansas’ first touchdown drive of the night. The defense answered again, forcing a three-and-out. Only a special teams mistake kept them on the field.
Jordan Ross was a little too aggressive going for the block and a blocker knocked him off his course and he hit the punter leading to a running into the punter call and a first down.
Arkansas took advantage, moving into the red zone before eventually settling for a field goal. But on a night where the Razorbacks struggled to score touchdowns, making it a 14-13 game and needing only a field goal to take the lead was significant.
Squirrel White Doesn’t Catch A Punt
People will remember the special teams mistake above. They won’t remember this one but it was nearly just as important.
Arkansas punted the ball back to Tennessee from its own 14-yard line with 4:05 remaining in the game. It was a short punt but Squirrel White didn’t run up to catch it, allowing it to land and roll roughly 20 yards to the Tennessee 21-yard line.
The Vols went three-and-out, had a false start on fourth down and then had a shorter punt that gave Arkansas the ball at its own 41-yard line.
That sequence was an absolutely horrific one for Tennessee. The Vols ran just 45 seconds off the clock and Arkansas gained 28 yards of field position.
Bad Clock Management On The Final Drive
Nico Iamaleava should not have decided to run the ball on the final play of the game. There’s no doubt about that. But Tennessee’s clock management on the drive was terrible. Here’s the sequence that was particularly poor.
There was 1:09 remaining when Tennessee snapped its second play of the final drive. Iamaleava scrambled for eight yards. Then the next play was the big one, with Iamaleava hitting Thornton for a 42-yard gain.
Tennessee then had little urgency before snapping it on its next play, an incomplete pass to Miles Kitselman down the sideline. There was then 17 seconds remaining.
Tennessee ran just three plays in a 52 second sequence. All while having two timeouts. For a team that prides itself on tempo, that was a truly jarring sequence and one that hurt the Vols’ opportunities after hitting the long pass play.
