Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has heard enough about the Vols’ second-quarter woes. He alluded to as much during his meeting with the media on Thursday.
“I know from you guys that our second quarter, not being as good as it needed to be last year, was a point of emphasis for you guys too,” Heupel said.
So what changed in just a matter of months?
“It’s just executing,” Heupel said flatly.
Heupel’s second-quarter woes last season were well documented. The Vols would typically come out fast, seemingly outmanning or outpacing their opponents, only to let them creep back in the game.
That hasn’t been the case this season. The Vols outscored Ball State 21-0 in the second quarter of the season opener in a 59-10 rout of the Cardinals. Then, Tennessee outscored Pittsburgh 17-7 in the second quarter last week after falling behind 10-0. The latter of the two certainly shows optimism for those media members – and fans alike – that the second quarter was a mostly fruitless last season. If the Vols hadn’t had a big second quarter against Pitt, Tennessee would almost certainly be 1-1 instead of 2-0.
“We’ve executed during the course of those quarters,” Heupel said. “It is something that as a program we talked about in our offense dating all the way back to January, placing a point of emphasis on.”
Does that suddenly make Tennessee a second-quarter team or is the timing of offensive success just happenstance? Probably a little bit of both. The Vols, per Heupel, clearly were motivated by how they performed last season in the second quarter. Now, they’ve outscored their opponents 38-7 in the second frame.
The Vols have a high-scoring offense. We all know that. That’s what made the second quarter woes so frustrating last season, in which Tennessee only averaged 7.9-point per game. That was 59th in the country. That might be fine for other offenses, but for what Heupel likes to put on the field, it was incredibly low. Now, the Vols are averaging 19 points per second quarter, which is tied for sixth-best in the nation. For the record, the Vols were outscored 140-109 in the second quarter last season. That’s not great.
Before we deem the Vols masters of the second quarter, let’s keep in mind that Tennessee was playing one of the worst teams in the nation in Week One against Ball State and absolutely had to score points against Pitt last week. The trend will continue this week against Akron. The Vols will score plenty of points in each quarter considering the Zips are every bit as bad as Ball State, if not worse.
We’ll see what happens against Florida and better teams that the Vols will face as the season rolls on.
The second-quarter shortcomings could have just been an anomaly. A dropped pass can end a drive. A bad drive can upend an entire quarter. However, there was probably more at play than just bad luck.
Tennessee was very inexperienced in Heupel’s system last season. The Vols were built around defense before Heupel arrived. It’s natural to think that there was a sense of relief when the Vols glanced toward the scoreboard and saw a double digit lead after the first frame. They weren’t used to that. They also weren’t used to Tennessee’s tempo.
There were certainly some times last season in which the Vols were a bit gassed heading into halftime. Heupel’s breakneck pace can do that to offensive and defensive players alike. With a better knowledge of what Heupel wants to do, the Vols seem ready to succeed in the second quarter. They are almost certainly better conditioned as well. That comes with more time in Heupel’s system.
No matter what happens moving forward, the Vols are a great second-quarter team – for now. All Heupel needed was a nudge from the assembled scribes and talking heads. Sure, that’s what did it.
