Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili wasn’t willing to point fingers at his offensive counterparts when asked about the Vols’ 19-14 loss to Arkansas on Saturday. However, he certainly could have done as much.
The Vols’ offense never really got in gear against the Razorbacks. Tennessee didn’t score a single point in the first half and also went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Yet, there was more than just that.
Tennessee’s defense was on the field for over 12 minutes in the first quarter. The Vols certainly seemed gassed later in the game. Pili, however, took the blame on behalf of his defense.
“No,” the middle linebacker said following the game when asked if that first quarter took its toll and that the Vols were tired on defense at the end of the game, “We’ve got to learn to get off the field quicker and stop beating ourselves and stop dragging out those drives and give the ball to our offense at the end of the day. That would of helped a lot more if we do that.”
It certainly would have. However, it’s tough to find serious flaws in the Vols’ defensive performance. Holding any opponent to 19 points should be enough for Tennessee coach Josh Heupel to overcome, given his offensive prowess. That was certainly not the case on Saturday.
“Our offense had a chance at the end of the game,” Pili said. “I saw a lot of guys that believed they could score, believed they could do it. Obviously, we didn’t get the result we wanted, but that’s okay. I liked how our team responded to that type of adversity in the end.”
Pili said he didn’t feel like the Vols lacked focus during the bye week leading up to the game. Tennessee running back Dylan Sampson said the Vols were “lackadaisical” in their preparation for the Razorbacks.
“I didn’t feel that way,” Pili said. “I can’t speak for the team as a whole. We had guys attacking it everyday…I hope this can be a good learning experience for our team. Defense, offense, special teams, as a whole, we can’t beat ourselves and that’s going to be true for the rest of the season.”
When asked about Tennessee being just one of the many upsets in college football on Saturday, Pili wasn’t ready to let go of his frustrations just yet.
“We’ve got to let this one sting for a little bit, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to flip the page,” Pili said. “We know what we can do. We know what we can be and all of that is still in front of us.”
Sure, the Vols could still win a national championship, but that seems rather far fetched now after losing to an Arkansas team that was considered double-digit underdogs to the No. 4 Vols. Pili voiced concern that this sort of loss could fracture Tennessee’s team.
“Is a loss going to break us apart or are we going to come back together strong?” he said. “Think, as a brotherhood, we’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror, come back tomorrow and get ready to attack the day.”
When asked exactly what went wrong against Arkansas, Pili said, “Mental errors on our side. Nothing special. It was us. We were not executing at the level that we need to to be an elite team.”
Certainly not. There was nothing special about the Vols’ offense on Saturday, even if Pili didn’t want to say as much.
