In the past, Tennessee Football has too often followed the trends on offense. Butch Jones installed the spread offense seven years after Urban Meyer won his first national championship and the system had taken hold across the sport. Johnny Majors brought the veer to UT in the late 1970s, after it had dominated the decade.
Josh Heupel is doing the exact opposite, though. While the Vols finished No. 7 in points per game his first year and No. 1 last year. UT’s two seasons with the most total yards in school history are the last two years respectively as well, and this system shows no signs of slowing down.
At the same time, though, this is happening at a time in which many cutting-edge offenses the past decade are getting figured out. Last year, FBS teams averaged 28.38 points per game. That’s the fewest number of points per game since 2011. Before that, 2021 was the lowest average since 2011.
Remember what happened in 2011? The Alabama Crimson Tide won the national title with a historically great defense, beating the LSU Tigers in a rematch. They were each others’ only loss on the year, as LSU beat them in the regular season. That was a 9-6 overtime game.
Well, all signs point to college football trending back in that direction. The Georgia Bulldogs just won back to back national titles with Kirby Smart employing the same methods Nick Saban was using during that time period. They were all about defense and ball control last year.
Saban, who gained a lot of respect by adapting to the up-tempo offenses of the 2010s and going that route himself, appears to be following his protege’s lead. He brought Tommy Rees in as Alabama’s new offensive coordinator, who ran a lot of ball control last year with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
So what’s happening? Well, it seems like after a decade of offenses chasing tempo with one another, defenses have caught up. As a result, there’s a revert back to focusing on efficiency. Look at the Michigan Wolverines. They play ball control in the Big Ten and have beaten the Ohio State Buckeyes each of the past two years to reach the College Football Playoff.
Taking that into account, what Heupel is doing with Tennessee Football, Lincoln Riley with the USC Trojans and even Garrett Riley with the TCU Horned Frogs is even more of an anomaly. Knowing the trends, how long can Heupel last with his cutting-edge offensive scheme?
Offenses are still moving faster. They just aren’t scoring as efficiently. Well, this is where Heupel has the advantage. While the Vols were No. 1 in points per game last year, they were No. 2 in points per play. Alabama and Georgia were No. 3 and No. 4 while Ohio State came in at No. 1.
This makes it clear that the upgraded defenses doesn’t necessarily mean ball control results in greater efficiency, the way coaches used to believe in defensive eras. The Jim Tressel style of coaching is never coming back. Heupel plays lots of tempo and still scores at an efficient rate.
What it does mean, though, is that offensive coaches will have to be innovative and bring a schematic advantage beyond just running tempo. Who doesn’t believe Heupel can’t do that? He’s run this offense for eight years now, and nobody’s figured it out. As a result, Tennessee Football is in good shape no matter what.
