Why Josh Heupel is to blame for worst mistake of Tennessee football loss to Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, AL – It may have been Josh Heupel’s worst play call of his Tennessee football coaching tenure.

And though he tried, he didn’t have a clear explanation for it after the Vols (5-2, 2-2 SEC) lost 37-20 to Alabama (6-1, 4-0) on Oct. 18.

“When you’re playing a good team, the details are going to matter,” Heupel said. “We lost in the details tonight. And that’s my responsibility, our responsibility – players and coaches together.”

Every UT fan who suffered through this game knows the play in question. It’s the moment when anyone wearing orange in Bryant-Denny Stadium shouted their saltiest words to the sky, long before the cigar smoke filled the air.

It was the final play of the first half, a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by Alabama’s Zabien Brown that served as a 14-point swing.

Why Josh Heupel play call didn't fool Alabama

There were numerous errors on Tennessee’s part, including Joey Aguilar’s decision to throw the ball. But it started with Heupel’s predictable decision to call a pass play from a power-running package in hopes of tricking the Tide.

Alabama wasn’t fooled.

UT had the ball on second-and-goal at the 1-yard line with nine seconds remaining in the first half.

The Vols came to the line in a heavy run package with defensive lineman Carson Gentle, tight end Miles Kitselman and running back DeSean Bishop in the backfield. That would normally signal a running play.

But they had no timeouts, so an unsuccessful run play would’ve run out the clock with no points.

So that personnel package and the situation pointed to a play-action pass, which is what UT ran. Brown jumped Kitselman’s route, picked off Aguilar’s pass and raced to the end zone for a TD that extended Alabama’s halftime lead to 23-7.

When asked if a play-action pass was too predictable, Heupel indicated that Aguilar didn’t have to throw the ball if Kitselman wasn’t open.

“Yeah, they understand the situation as well,” Heupel said. “You’ve got a one-two read. Ultimately, we’ve got to be on the right side of it. It’s there or it’s not. We’ve got to be accurate with the ball. If it’s not, throw it away and you’ve got one more play.”

Then Heupel quickly backtracked to try to take blame off Aguilar.

“That is not me putting it on Joey either,” Heupel said. “Ultimately, it’s on all of us.”

Tennessee changed the play call after Alabama timeout

Heupel faced three questions about that play in the postgame press conference. He answered the first one by explaining why UT passed the ball rather than run it.

“End of the first half, nine seconds, no timeouts. You're left with a decision. Do you want two opportunities or one?” Heupel said. “So we got a little play action.”

That decision was the right one. It was too risky for UT to run the ball in that situation. But passing the ball out of a run-first package was overthinking it.

When Alabama saw UT come to the line of scrimmage with two blocking backs and Bishop in the backfield, Tide coach Kalen DeBoer called timeout.

That’s when Heupel said UT’s play call changed: “We made that choice after the timeout.”

ESPN commentator: 'I blame Josh Heupel for this'

Heupel is among the sharpest offensive minds in college football. He and offensive coordinator Joey Halzle have helped guide the Vols to the highest scoring offense in the FBS heading into the Alabama game.

But between them, they should’ve pushed aside the desire to overthink that play.

Aguilar is among the SEC’s best passers, and UT has talented receivers. They could’ve scored without trickery, especially with two short shots into the end zone.

“I blame Josh Heupel for this,” ESPN commentator Booger McFarland said while breaking down the play at halftime. 

As for the long-term ramifications of that error, UT will bounce back when it plays Kentucky on Oct. 25 (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) in Lexington. After all, there was no finger-pointing after the Alabama game.

Bishop, who almost ran down Brown on the 99-yard return, accepted some of the blame because he didn’t score on his run from the 2-yard line on the previous play. And he didn’t question the play call on the interception either.

“That’s the play the coaches decided to run. That was the play in that moment,” Bishop said. “Regardless of what anyone thinks, I trust in Halzle (and) I trust in Heup that they came up with the play that was best for the team. And that’s what they chose.”

Aguilar, who played through an apparent neck injury after a hard hit on a run in the second quarter, was not made available to reporters after the game.

But Bishop, who served as the offense’s spokesperson, brushed off opportunities to blame anyone for the most tide-turning play of the game

“In this game, not everything is going to go your way,” Bishop said.

But to beat Alabama, the Vols couldn’t hurt themselves. Unfortunately, their coaches made a mistake that contributed to that damage.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email [email protected]. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel is to blame for worst mistake of Tennessee football loss to Alabama