Although there were glaring deficiencies for Tennessee Football in their 19-14 loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks Saturday night, there was also plenty of blame to go around. None of it falls on the defense, by the way, despite that final drive. They got worn down because of mistakes elsewhere. Let’s break that down. Here’s our blame pie, analyzing who’s at fault for the Vols’ loss to the Hogs on the road.
Jackson Ross: 3 percent
It’s minor, but this was a game of field position, and Jackson Ross lost the battle punting. He had seven punts and only pinned two in the 20 while averaging 42.7 yards per punt and sending one per touchback. Arkansas punter Devin Bale had three punts and averaged 57.3 yards per punt. The difference late gave the Hogs a shorter field, allowing them to operate that game-winning drive.
Interior offensive line: 3 percent
Since they got things going in the second half, you can’t blame them too much, but part of why the Tennessee Football offense was so useless in the first half was because they couldn’t run the ball. Arkansas put five in the box and still stopped the run game, leading to a 3-0 halftime score. Andrej Karic had a penalty to nullify a first down, and Javontez Spraggins missed a block as well.
DeSean Bishop: 5 percent
It was one mistake but a crucial one. After Dylan Sampson had spotted the Vols a 14-3 lead with two third quarter touchdowns, the Vols gave him a rest and put DeSean Bishop in. Bishop ran hard, but on a key passing play, he missed a block, which resulted in Nico Iamaleava getting sacked. Those are mistakes that can’t happen and put him on this list.
Miles Kitselman: 5 percent
Committing a pre-snap penalty, dropping a pass and breaking the wrong way on a route were all part of Tennessee Football tight end Miles Kitselman’s night. At this point, the Vols should turn to Ethan Davis or Holden Staes at this position. Kitselman was awful and a huge part of killing drives by the Vols offensively. He’s got to get some blame.
Jordan Ross: 10 percent
Similar to Bishop, he made one mistake, but it was a critical one. UT was about to get the ball back up 14-10, but Jordan Ross, ignoring the call by the coaches, went all out for a punt block. He drew a running into the kicker, allowing the Hogs to keep the ball. They just got a field goal on that drive, but you could feel it shift the momentum, so Ross’ mistake was the turning point of the game.
Nico Iamaleava: 15 percent
Rewatching the game shows how little help Nico Iamaleava had, but he still choked on that final drive. Fumbling a snap and running out of bounds on the final play are inexcusable. Also, Iamaleava overthrew Squirrel White on a wide open touchdown pass downfield. It’s time to question his mental toughness after this one, and that’s a hard thing to admit.
Offensive tackles: 30 percent
By far the biggest problem with the offense was Iamaleava’s lack of protection. Arkansas kept safeties deep because John Campbell Jr. and Lance Heard got abused all night. Both are transfers, and honestly, they need to give back their NIL money for the way they played. It was a horrendous performance, one that we can safely call disgraceful. The Vols allowed four sacks for a reason.
Josh Heupel: 30 percent
Sure, the tackles were awful, but Josh Heupel waited way too long to call 12 personnel. He then let Arkansas score late, and given the fact that Tennessee Football could’ve gotten the ball back down 16-14 with 37 seconds left rather than 19-14 with a minute left, that was a mistake. Add in the clock mismanagement on that final drive, and honestly, Heupel coached his worst game ever with UT.
