Tennessee left Fayetteville with a 24-17 win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon, but the box score tells only part of the story. A late drive finished by DeSean Bishop saved the day, yet the overall performance never came close to matching the standard the Vols should be setting.
The biggest takeaway is hard to ignore: that showing was unacceptable. This is year six for Josh Heupel, and while he’s clearly rebuilt Tennessee from a wrecked program into something far better, a game this tight against Arkansas - even on the road - does not pass the smell test.
The offense sputtered. The defense came out flat after halftime.
And against what may be the SEC’s worst team, that’s a problem.
There’s no talk here of firing Heupel. But there is real reason to wonder what comes next, especially with Alabama looming.
If Tennessee shows up with that kind of execution on both sides, things could get ugly fast. Alabama is a far better team than Arkansas, and the Vols simply can’t afford to be sloppy and disconnected for long stretches.
At the same time, Tennessee has shown it can still play at a high level. The defense was sharp against Texas and Auburn, and had stretches in this one as well.
Offensively, things haven’t been elite with George MacIntyre at quarterback, but the ball has moved better at times than it did before. That leaves at least some belief that this group can still straighten itself out.
MacIntyre, in particular, did enough to earn another look. The turnovers were a major issue - all three were at least partly on him - but the offense functioned better with him than it had in the first half against Texas or Auburn when Faizon Brandon was at quarterback. Against an Arkansas defense that has been rough all year, MacIntyre gave Tennessee a better flow in the passing game and helped open things up on the ground.
He finished 18-of-29 for 247 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, and he was sacked twice. He didn’t log any true rushes.
With the passing game showing more life, Arkansas had to keep a high safety in place for much of the afternoon, which made it harder to stack the box against the run. Once MacIntyre started connecting, DeSean Bishop got room to work.
Still, the mistakes matter, and the job is not locked in. If MacIntyre keeps giving the ball away, a healthy Brandon is waiting for another chance.
Another familiar issue popped up right before halftime. Tennessee got the ball at the Arkansas 45 with 1:45 left and had a chance to add points, but the possession went nowhere.
A short completion to Braylon Staley, a stuffed Bishop run, and a timeout from Heupel set up a third-and-11. MacIntyre then found Mike Matthews for a first down, Bishop picked up eight more yards, and Heupel used his second timeout.
After that, MacIntyre threw incomplete under pressure, and a screen on the next third-and-short turned into disaster when the ball was jarred loose for a fumble that nearly became a touchdown for Arkansas.
Fortunately for Tennessee, former Vols kicker Max Gilbert missed the 38-yard field goal. No additional damage was done, but the sequence still left points on the table. That’s been a recurring theme for this team, and it’s especially frustrating when a two-possession lead was there for the taking.
There was at least one encouraging sign in the form of Tennessee’s offensive line settling into a workable look. This group has been shuffled all over the place.
The season started with David Sanders Jr., Wendell Moe Jr., Nic Moore, Sham Umarov and Jesse Perry from left to right when Sam Pendleton was suspended. Pendleton later returned at Georgia Tech, while Umarov rotated with Donovan Haslam.
Then Moe suffered a season-ending injury against Texas, forcing Umarov to the left side and Haslam into the right guard spot. Umarov was later injured, which pushed Perry to left guard and Ory Williams to right tackle for the final snaps.
Against Auburn, Moore moved to left guard and played well. That gave Tennessee a lineup of Sanders, Moore, Pendleton, Haslam and Perry from left to right.
Umarov was cleared for Arkansas, but he never got in the game, and the Vols stuck with that same five. It held up fine.
At this point, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to change it, with Umarov now the first guard option off the bench and Williams the first tackle off the bench.
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