No. 1 Tennessee football warning sign: Josh Heupel's mentality
Josh Heupel is an offense-minded head coach. So offense should never be the issue for the Vols. But it was on Saturday against a vastly inferior opponent.
Austin Peay gave up 49 points in a Week 1 loss to Southern Illinois. Comparing games is a flawed tactic, but the broader point stands. The Governors do not have a special defense by any stretch of the imagination. Meanwhile, Tennessee is supposed to have one of the most unstoppable offenses in college football. SP+ had them ranked No. 1 nationally behind only USC.
It's one thing to have one sloppy quarter or even a half. It's another thing for those miscues to continue into the second half. Clemson had a tough time against Charleston Southern but they came out in the second half with the pedal to the metal, turning a 24-17 game into a 66-17 blowout.
What did Heupel do? With a mere 23-6 lead in the fourth quarter, the head coach responded to his defense getting an interception with three straight runs leading to a punt. The Governors scored a touchdown on the next possession to pull within 10.