Vols offense looked at as gimmick

#1

VolForLife83

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#1
If you're a Tennessee Vols fan who's spent even a little bit of time on social media in the last six months, you've likely seen plenty of opposing fan bases throwing shade at Josh Heupel's offense.
For reasons I don't understand, there's a narrative that Tennessee's offense just throws the ball deep down the field and does little else. Vols fans know that's nowhere close to being the case.


https://atozsports.com/nashville/tennessee-vols-news-false-heupel-ut-football
 
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#3
#3
I could care less what anyone thinks about our offense under Heupel. He's winning at this point and that's what is important to me. The last understanding I had neither the SEC nor the NCAA awards any form of style points based on the offensive sets you run.

The only points that matters are the ones on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Heupel has already put down Bama and will produce a win over UGA soon imo.
 
#6
#6
Opposing fans think it's a gimmick but opposing coaches know it's not and struggle to defend it. It's also a tired narrative that all this offense does is go fast and chuck the ball down the field. It's much more than that and starts with the run game. If it's such a gimmick then why has UT been one of the top teams in total offense two years in a row? Also, I want opposing fan bases to hate us again. Maybe that's returning.
 
#7
#7
If you're a Tennessee Vols fan who's spent even a little bit of time on social media in the last six months, you've likely seen plenty of opposing fan bases throwing shade at Josh Heupel's offense.
For reasons I don't understand, there's a narrative that Tennessee's offense just throws the ball deep down the field and does little else. Vols fans know that's nowhere close to being the case.


https://atozsports.com/nashville/tennessee-vols-news-false-heupel-ut-football
So gimmicky that Clemson is trying to mimic it now according to their QB.
 
#8
#8
Tennessee runs the ball. Tennessee throws the ball. Tennessee scores points on everybody. Tennessee plays tough. It going to hurt trying to stop Tennessee. Tennessee stops the run. Tennessee breaks up the pass. Tennessee takes away possession. You have to earn every yard, struggle to score points. Tennessee plays football. I’m proud to be a Tennessee alumnus and fan.
 
#10
#10
It could be. And certainly has aspects of a gimmicky style. But I don’t care. Just win. Win with 6 guys who get drafted. Win with 0 guys getting drafted. Just win.
In what specific way? Not being hateful with you but apart from spreading the field more than most (not all)... UT runs the same stuff as everyone else.

Getting to the LOS quickly and having fast tempo at times isn't a "gimmick"... it is common sense. Most focus on the idea that it tires a D out. That's not generally true if a team has reasonable depth. They just platoon from series to series. The bigger advantages are that it prevents situational substitution and complicates defensive communication. Again... no gimmick there. Just good ol' horse sense.

PS- UT has a BRUTAL run game under Heupel. They're physical. That wears on D's as much or more than tempo. UT throws deep. UT throws effectively. But they're fundamentally a smash mouth run team. Versus the SEC last fall UT was 3rd in rush ypg, 2nd in rush TDs, and 1st in ypc with UGA and Ole Miss coming next. Nothing they do running the ball is "gimmicky". They line up and hit Ds in the mouth.
 
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#11
#11
I know we play fast and that's a big part of the strategy, but I believe Heup made an adjustment in 2022 compared to 2021. I perceived we had many more 'rushed' 3rd Downs. In 2021, we seemed to be quick to run a play on 3rd Down even if it wasn't the best play call for the down and distance. It seemed like we slowed down a little in 2022 and got into the correct call for 3rd down.

I could be totally wrong on that. It could be that we just executed better in 2022 than 2021 on 3rd Down. I just remember being so frustrated in 2021 with our offense when we would go 3 and out and only run 1:00 off the clock.
 
#12
#12
Tennessee runs the ball. Tennessee throws the ball. Tennessee scores points on everybody. Tennessee plays tough. It going to hurt trying to stop Tennessee. Tennessee stops the run. Tennessee breaks up the pass. Tennessee takes away possession. You have to earn every yard, struggle to score points. Tennessee plays football. I’m proud to be a Tennessee alumnus and fan.
And I think this is the first time in a while that you could honestly make all of those claims about the team.
 
#17
#17
I know we play fast and that's a big part of the strategy, but I believe Heup made an adjustment in 2022 compared to 2021. I perceived we had many more 'rushed' 3rd Downs. In 2021, we seemed to be quick to run a play on 3rd Down even if it wasn't the best play call for the down and distance. It seemed like we slowed down a little in 2022 and got into the correct call for 3rd down.

I could be totally wrong on that. It could be that we just executed better in 2022 than 2021 on 3rd Down. I just remember being so frustrated in 2021 with our offense when we would go 3 and out and only run 1:00 off the clock.
You aren't. In '21, UT ran tempo but couldn't exactly control tempo. Last year they always got over the ball in a hurry but sometimes they slowed the tempo. They executed much better so they were effective even without some of the advantages playing fast gives them.
 
#18
#18
I have no issue with the other fanbases thinking we run a "gimmicky" offense. It is just like the years in the past that we went into games with the Gators and we all knew we had the better team and at the end of the game we were left shaking our heads. The scoreboard is all that matters.
 
#19
#19
You aren't. In '21, UT ran tempo but couldn't exactly control tempo. Last year they always got over the ball in a hurry but sometimes they slowed the tempo. They executed much better so they were effective even without some of the advantages playing fast gives them.
I think a lot of that had to do with the improvement of the offensive line. In 2022 we were able to protect our qb much better and that meant we weren’t as reliant on catching defenses on their heels. We still leveraged the hurry up most of the time, but we didn’t have to fully rely on it like we did in 2021
 
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#22
#22
It’s all relative imo. The “forward pass” was most likely thought of as a gimmick generations ago.

Not in order but the game changed with: the “shotgun” formation, “no huddle” offense, “west coast”, run and shoot, “four wide receivers,” etc.

As others have posted, call it what you want as long as we win.
 
#25
#25
They said Spurrier's offense was a gimmick too.

In 2022:

Tennessee was 5th in the SEC in rushing yards, 4th in attempts, and 6th in rush yards per game. It isn't just a passing offense.

Spurrier's offense wasn't gimmicky and I never heard anyone describe it as such. It was simply very effective because he knew how to scheme
a passing game and, when he started at Florida, the SEC was still very run oriented. Nobody had the DBs to stop Florida--certainly including us.

Teams will adjust to our fast style--there's no question about that. But style, at the end of the day, rarely wins or loses games. If we have
good players, are coached well and execute, we'll score points and win. If we don't--if our OL isn't great or the QB is mediocre, etc.--then playing
fast isn't going to help us much.
 

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