Southeastern Conference football can be so unsettling. The whoosh you heard Saturday night was the air going out of the Tennessee balloon. The thump was the untimely return to reality. It was not a soft landing.
The Vol grip has slipped on their projected place in the playoffs. Their chances of winning the national championship are in decline. The margin for error has been reduced.
A faithful reader summed up the shocking 19-14 setback at Arkansas with a sad segment from a nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty. The wall and fall make perfect sense. Whether all Josh’s horses and all Josh’s men can put Humpty back together again remains to be seen.
The Florida game is coming soon. There is just enough time to take the Gators seriously.
Just the facts …
Tennessee lost to Arkansas on offense, defense, special teams and coaching. The look was much worse than the score.
Most attention ended up on the end of the game. Tennessee was in the process of proving it could not preserve a one-point lead. Arkansas was a few steps short of the winning touchdown or an easy field goal, and using up all the clock.
Josh Heupel told his team to allow Arkansas to score so there would be time remaining for a possible comeback. The plan could have worked. Nico Lamaleava hit one long pass. He bobbled a snap and threw incomplete. Ex-Vol Doneiko Slaughter broke up a pass play.
On fourth down with six seconds to go, Nico, flushed from the pocket, inexplicably ran out of bounds instead of launching a Hall Mary and hoping for a miracle. It was a duplicate of a 2021 Joe Milton mistake.
Celebrating Arkansas fans flooded the field. Arkansas will be fined.
It appears Tennessee made little or no progress from open date. Vol running back Dylan Sampson said there was a lack of focus. That leads to another question: Was the team not properly prepared or motivated or is it simply not good enough?
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said his team got a lot better in recent days. It learned from Oklahoma second-half defensive video. The Razorbacks’ poor pass defense, 14th in the SEC, was suddenly very good.
“We watched Oklahoma and it had some success, it held Tennessee to 25 (points),” said Pittman. “That’s where it started, the tape on Oklahoma.”
Arkansas also kept the football a disproportionate amount of time against the “elite” Tennessee defense. It was by far the best game by Sam’s offensive line.
“I was so proud.”
Josh Heupel said Saturday was a disappointment for his football team.
“We didn’t do the ordinary things at a high level… End of the day, starting with me, it wasn’t good enough. We got to play smarter, we got to play better up front. We got to play better with our skill players on the perimeter and we got to play better at quarterback. But again, it starts with me. We got to all get better.”
There are stumbling blocks. It appears receiver and punt returner Squirrel White has a collarbone problem. Receiver Bru McCoy missed the second half with a hand in a cast.
Other issues: The Gators may actually be improving. Three days ago, Tennessee was favored by three touchdowns. Two days ago, Florida defeated Central Florida, 24-13.
Three weeks ago, Florida coach Billy Napier was booed as he left The Swamp. On Saturday, he received a rousing ovation. The Gators have won two in a row. Napier may get a raise.
Meanwhile, Tennessee presented what may have been the worst offensive performance of the Heupel era. It was shut out in the first half. Nico completed his first seven but not much came of that. Defense wasn’t all that hot. It was fortunate to be behind only 3-0 at intermission. The Vols got two touchdowns in the third quarter but couldn’t hold the advantage.
Imaleava ended up 17-of-28 passing for 156 yards. The big one late to Dont’e Thornton was for 42. Nico was sacked four times and often pressured. He never looked comfortable in the pocket. Razorback Landon Jackson was an edge mismatch as James Pearce used to be for the Vols.
Receivers seemed to struggle to get open. Sometimes Nico held the ball too long. He remains reluctant to throw away passes. It didn’t appear there were any called running attempts.
Sampson ran 22 times for 138 and both touchdowns. His long gain was 53. Slaughter caught him at the 4.
Penalties, penalties and more penalties – 10 for 60 yards. The Humpty Dumpty reader asked who coaches team discipline? Heupel gets paid the most.
Linebacker Keenan Pili was in on 14 tackles. Safety Will Brooks had 10. Pearce, in his best game of the year, was involved in nine. There were t many opportunities.
Parting shot: Heupel doesn’t think Nico will ever repeat the final play.
“In that scenario, you got to get the ball up and give one of your guys an opportunity to go make a play. Nico, just like me, and just like our football team, wishes that we had played better.
“Nico is disappointed but he’s got to bounce back from it. He’s played way too good not to respond the right way. And I know he will.”
Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com