In many ways, the Tennessee football season-opener was a typical offensive performance under Josh Heupel. The Vols beat the Ball State Cardinals 59-10 and gained 569 yards of offense.

You might have missed it because their first offensive play from scrimmage was a touchdown pass, but the Vols relied less on quick strikes than in the past. They ran 86 plays in the game.

That’s a far cry from last year, when they often used quick strikes in the first quarter and ran about 73 plays a game. The tempo was still there, but this time, Ball State forced Tennessee football to move the ball.

“I thought we handled the tempo in a really good way,” Heupel said in his postgame press conference. “I do not think there were any false starts or procedure penalties. We got our cleats in the ground, got set and it was good to see.”

This had an impact on the raw numbers, but not the efficiency. Hendon Hooker completed 72 percent of his passes and averaged nearly nine yards an attempt.

He also had four total touchdowns and no turnovers. However, he had just 221 passing yards and 12 rushing yards after averaging 245 passing yards and over 50 yards a game last year. The flow of the game dictated that.

“Structurally some things we game planned for and some things we hadn’t. The adjustments on the sideline he handled in a really good way,” Heupel said of Hooker. “I thought he was in great command of the football game.”

‘Clean’ describes Tennessee football’s offense

Jacob Warren said in an interview with Off the Hook on Monday that the Vols’ offense would be much more clean in Heupel’s second season. He wasn’t wrong.

Heupel and Hooker both used the word “clean” to describe the Vols’ play, and it fit. That was specifically Heupel’s word when describing pass protection and penalties.

Pass protection itself was a huge deal. The Vols were starting a new, or two new left tackles, as Jeremiah Crawford and Gerald Mincey split time. They allowed no sacks.

Hooker took one sack, but that came as he was rolling out to his right, and it was just a one-yard loss. Considering how the Vols gave up three and a half sacks a game last year, you can’t overlook that.

“We expect to score every possession we are out there,” Hooker said when he spoke after the game. “We have to move efficiently and play smart football at the end of the day.”

It was a similar story with penalties. Heupel was just barely off, as the Vols had one procedural penalty, a delay of game just before the first half expired.

Outside of that, though, their only other on-field penalties were a holding call when the second team was in and an offensive pass interference in the first half. Others were personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Efficiency continued despite Tennessee football using more players

Normally, when you use as many players as Heupel used Thursday, you’re bound to see more mistakes. That wasn’t the case at all, though.

There were 10 different players catch passes for the Vols. Bru McCoy joined the team in August and wasn’t eligible until last week. He caught three passes for 42 yards. Heupel described his play as “clean” too.

“A year into it, there are more guys that understand offensively what we are doing and the why behind it,” Heupel said. “They are understanding how to execute and operate efficiently.”

Being able to run more receivers in and out of the game has been a focus of the coaching staff all offseason. They certainly did that in this one.

It’s not clear if that will remain the strategy as their opponents get tougher. However, it certainly allowed Hooker to demonstrate his efficiency.

“That’s my thing. I love to spread the ball around and get it into the playmakers’ hands, he said. “Tonight, I got a chance to do that and they all made plays.”

Accuracy from both Tennessee football QBs helped “clean” play

Both quarterbacks’ names came up in our rapid reactions to the game for a reason. Obviously, what Hooker did was a huge part of remaining “clean.” Heupel noted he only really missed one throw on the night.

Behind him, though, Joe Milton III kept up that efficiency. Milton struggled with accuracy last year and did throw too hard what should have been an easy touchdown pass. That was his only miss of the night.

For the game, Milton went 8-of-9 off the bench with a touchdown, which was a 53-yard strike to Jimmy Holiday. He also had a 21-yard run, his only carry of the game.

“You guys know that we’ve felt like he has grown from the time that he got back in January, much like Hendon [Hooker] has,” Heupel said. “We’ve felt like they’ve progressed, each of them in their own way.”

While Tennessee football forced three turnovers on defense, the Vols had none any time Hooker or Milton was in the game. Jaylen Wright did have a fumble, but the offensive line recovered it.

Late in the game, they did have two more fumbles and lost one, but Justin Williams-Thomas was the one who lost it. He’s the fourth-string running back. Navy Shuler, the fourth-string quarterback, had the other fumble.

That’s how deep the Vols had to go before any mistakes began to show. For most of the night, they had no or very few problems no matter how many players they ran.

“I thought overall that having bodies and running efficiently, we did that for most of the night,” Heupel said. “There are some things that we could clean up. I thought guys with the ball in their hands did a good job of running and finishing plays too.”