A season ago, Tennessee football failed to score in the first half of three straight SEC games while scuffling for the second straight year. Josh Heupel and his staff went back to the drawing board this offseason and made serious changes to Tennessee’s offense, helping them regain their identity and look like one of the SEC’s best at times this season.
Those changes and improvements bode well for Tennessee in the future. But it’s also made the Vols’ 2025 offense all the more maddening.
The Vols turned the football over three times in the first half against Oklahoma Saturday night which conservatively accounted for a 22-point swing in the game. Despite out-gaining the Sooners 255-99 in the first half, Tennessee went into the locker room trailing 16-10 after the game’s first 30 minutes.
That came back to bite Tennessee as Oklahoma played far better in the second half, taking control of the game midway through the third quarter and effectively ending the Vols’ playoff hopes with a 33-27 Sooner victory.
“Turned the ball over three times,” Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar said postgame. “The strip sack and two interceptions. To know those mistakes of just reading the defense and getting to the next read for me personally, obviously, hurts a lot. Put my team in a better position to put up points and the defense gave us turnovers and offensively, we didn’t execute on those.”
Josh Heupel described Tennessee’s turnovers against Oklahoma as uncharacteristic. They somewhat are, at least to the degree Tennessee committed them against the Sooners. But offensive consistency issues have persisted all season.
Against Georgia, Tennessee’s offense disappeared for large portions of the game and failed to deliver the knockout blow off a fourth quarter turnover. Inability take advantage of turnovers made the Arkansas game far more competitive than it needed to be.
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The Vols’ turnover issues did cost them against Mississippi State when two Aguilar interceptions and a muffed punt set the Bulldogs up for three short fields and 21 points. Alabama was a mix of both. A late half pick six was costly while the inability to take advantage of a third quarter Alabama turnover kept Tennessee from getting back in the game.
Tennessee’s defense has earned lots of blame this season and much of it has been warranted. After a great first half against Oklahoma, many of its issues showed up in the second half. However, the Vols’ offense failed to alleviate those deficiencies by going three-and-out on two critical second half drives.
And that illustrates Tennessee’s season to a tee. Last year, the Vols had a good defense and a struggling offense. But Tennessee could count on its defense to deliver just about every game, giving Tennessee the consistency it needed for a 10-win regular season and a College Football Playoff birth.
Tennessee’s defense this season is better than its offense was a season ago. They have played well enough to give the Vols a chance to win every game this season. Tennessee’s offense needs to be the driving force for this team and it has showed that it is capable of being just that. But it hasn’t been able to do so with enough consistency.
The Vols’ offense gave them little chance to win against Alabama or Oklahoma. That inconsistency is why Tennessee’s playoff hopes died on the first day of November. Tennessee’s offensive improvement provides reason for long term optimism about Heupel and his program, but it makes this season’s failures all the more maddening.
