Offense Philosophy

[LittleVol]

At some point we can not call him an offensive guru anymore. He cant score against good defences.

Exactly. Call a spade a spade.

The dude not only gets conservative but then h also calls plays that don’t really support the momentum of the game.

Why the hell would you keep calling pass plays with slow developing routes when you’re line is on skates and your freshman QB has happy feet from getting hit?

He called one tunnel screen to Mike Matthews that went for 10 yards. It worked
- no draw plays.
- no rolling the pocket
- no TE hot pass
- just drop back and run for your life.

 

[njvols]

Glaring failures in play calling against Texas. When your O line cannot contain the pass rush, you do not keep dropping back in the pocket. You get the ball to the permeter. Heupel called ONE screen pass and it worked and that was it. Zero bubble screens. Zero pitches, hb passes, even outside runs. Running into the center's ass and then dropping back into a pocket that is instantly collapsing on third and long with a freshman QB...I don't know why anyone would expect that play calling to work.

This was the worst called game of Heupel's career. His stubbornness was beyond stupid.

Moving on.

Also, loved the old fashioned QB option, ran perfectly for a first down...but let's not use that play any more, let's keep running it up the middle.

 

[njvols]

Exactly. Call a spade a spade.

The dude not only gets conservative but then h also calls plays that don’t really support the momentum of the game.

Why the hell would you keep calling pass plays with slow developing routes when you’re line is on skates and your freshman QB has happy feet from getting hit?

He called one tunnel screen to Mike Matthews that went for 10 yards. It worked
- no draw plays.
- no rolling the pocket
- no TE hot pass
- just drop back and run for your life.

OR...why call a low percentage long pass when it's fourth and short to keep the chains moving when haven't proved we're the least bit capable of completing that particular low percentage pass...but JH said they had the look they wanted...probably just covering for his guy.

 

[VolRage]

After seeing the still shots of our QB staring at several open receivers before the pocket collapsed, I’d beg to differ. FB and the o-line held us back Saturday, not the playcalling.

I saw that too. It appeared to me that FB played scared. Of what, I’m not sure. To throw an INT? Of making a mistake? It puzzled me. There were windows of opportunity if he’d only thrown the ball. He has too much talent to allow that to ever happen again. I’m thinking the game is about to slow down for him quite a bit now that his nightmare is over. If he’s the QB everyone believes he is, we’ll enjoy his Sophomore and Junior years as he throttles defenses. My only concern is Halzle. He just doesn’t appear to be a QB whisperer.

 

[KTrain]

Hooker his second year had a firm grasp on the entire playbook. Easier to insert a scripted series and go fast after that inital scripted series when your qb understands the entire playbook. I don’t think outside of hooker we’ve had someone that can dial up the speed and get everything right. Hooker also gave you something on off script plays or broken plays.

This ^ Josh overall philosophy is every game has its own personality, aligns with this. Every QB we have had since he's been here sans Hookers 2nd year (2022) has had limitations in one way or the other. If Joey had been back the 2026 season would be more like the 2022 IMO. Starting a 1st time QB in this system even if its a portal has some limitations but true freshman is the ultimate, nobody knows till it happens.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

This ^ Josh overall philosophy is every game has its own personality, aligns with this. Every QB we have had since he's been here sans Hookers 2nd year (2022) has had limitations in one way or the other. If Joey had been back the 2026 season would be more like the 2022 IMO. Starting a 1st time QB in this system even if its a portal has some limitations but true freshman is the ultimate, nobody knows till it happens.

The replay was on the SEC channel earlier this morning. I watched the entirety of the 2nd half with a special emphasis on the OL and the play calling. OL played much better than they did in the first half. Brandon clearly missed receivers wide open and threw into the ground on others. The play calling was fine. It was easy to see this game was lost due to Brandon's inexperience. After watching the last half, I am convinced Brandon will learn and get much better and our future is promising for the rest of the season.

Again, the OL wasn't terrible in the 2nd half

 

[bignewt]

No, but it is a great teaching tool. It's exactly what the QBs are given to encourage educated anticipation

the instant line protection breakdowns should be given to the play caller then.

 

[MarcMyWords]

The replay was on the SEC channel earlier this morning. I watched the entirety of the 2nd half with a special emphasis on the OL and the play calling. OL played much better than they did in the first half. Brandon clearly missed receivers wide open and threw into the ground on others. The play calling was fine. It was easy to see this game was lost due to Brandon's inexperience. After watching the last play, I am convinced Brandon will learn and get much better and our future is promising for the rest of the season.

Again, the OL wasn't terrible in the 2nd half

Agree with this.

Many here seem to not remember that Faizons throwing arm/shoulder was completely immobilized when he finally got up off the field. I thought he broke his collarbone looking at the replays. They gave him a shot of something probably Toradol etc in that shoulder and he threw decently on the next drive or 2 coming back into the game. I think his numb shoulder kept him from having accuracy especially on "touch" passes for short yardage. They went in the ground instead of being casually flipped out 5 to 10yds to the WR. I was extremely impressed on his deep ball accuracy when he actually threw them...that Hail Mary was perfectly thrown from 50ish yards away and would have been a TD had the 3rd DB not ran in from the side and tipped it away.

Other than FB having hesitation to throw to Staley a couple times on the 1st drive that could have been TDs, I dont see any reason for any criticism whatsoever for FB. He outplayed Manning despite his Oline having THE worst game blocking in my 49years of life. He carried the ball 23/44 rushing attempts and took a beating. He showed fight to the very last snap and gave his All for Tennessee against the odds in his 1st ever SEC game. Very proud of him. When the game slows down a bit and the Oline plays better he will be great IMO. He will look better vs Barn this week and we win by 10+ points IMO.

 

[bigorangepoppa]

College football has changed since Heupel first implemented the lightning fast offense.

First off, the rules have changed to hinder going extremely high tempo (it's possible but not as effective as before).

Second, it's only ever useful if we can get some points more often then not, otherwise, the defense has to be on the field longer which dramatically increases the chances of the team scoring. We saw that happen when Milton/Nico took over. We had really quick 3 & outs and it stressed the defense.

I don't think our scheme is as bad as some would say. Frustrating at times but imo it's more about the pieces... specifically the QB needing to execute/play well.

The defense is getting better at getting off the field, so going fast again may not be out of the question.

 

[BreatheUT]

Glaring failures in play calling against Texas. When your O line cannot contain the pass rush, you do not keep dropping back in the pocket. You get the ball to the permeter. Heupel called ONE screen pass and it worked and that was it. Zero bubble screens. Zero pitches, hb passes, even outside runs. Running into the center's ass and then dropping back into a pocket that is instantly collapsing on third and long with a freshman QB...I don't know why anyone would expect that play calling to work.

This was the worst called game of Heupel's career. His stubbornness was beyond stupid.

Moving on.

Heupel seemed as much of a deer in the headlights as the rest of the offense. Agreed, the are some pressure valves in cases of an aggressive pass rush. It's hard to know if it would've work but the next time I see Heupel call a reverse may be the first time. Simmons was rushing hard...how much would have inside reverse flip pitches slowed the pass rush? Is there anyone on the team fast and twitchy enough to be effective at it?

 

[goooooovols]

Hmm the same offense we were running in 2022 seems to be working just fine at the same pace at Miss State this year….

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

You can’t play this game being timid, you play smart but when plays are there you got to take them. But he is a true freshman and did did face as legit a D front as he will face. I excpect him to bounce back. You can’t be so worried about throwing a pick that you don’t make the tough plays that are there. But he will learn and best thing he can do is go out there and play your game.GBO

 

[bignewt]

Heupel seemed as much of a deer in the headlights as the rest of the offense. Agreed, the are some pressure valves in cases of an aggressive pass rush. It's hard to know if it would've work but the next time I see Heupel call a reverse may be the first time. Simmons was rushing hard...how much would have inside reverse flip pitches slowed the pass rush? Is there anyone on the team fast and twitchy enough to be effective at it?

Seems like Morris has good burst. Liked to have seem him at least try and exploit the perimeter.

 

[RiseToTheTop]

1st and 2nd down are always vanilla and have been for about 3 yrs. You can pretty much call the plays from your couch. 2nd down will always be a basic inside run.

they don't use the middle of the field or ever use TEs, they don't even call screens anymore, athletic qb that never gets to roll out of the pocket, they don't try any outside runs esp with a guy like Morris. I can go on and on as most of yall can. It's a pretty trash scheme against good teams bc you put yourself in such a box and its limited. It looks great against lesser teams though.