Let us start off by saying it was great to see Tennessee football bend, but not break in the overtime win on the road against Mississippi State. However, it felt like Tennessee had a great chance to win things at the end of regulation, but some questionable calls by Josh Heupel got in the way.
Heupel's clock management was beyond awful to close things out at the end of the fourth. You all saw it. He had two timeouts that he didn't use for some reason and it felt like Joey Aguilar and the offense were rushed to make something happen for quite literally no reason. Use your timeouts, coach!
Mike Keith's call of Tennessee's scoop and score TD at MSU was beyond electric
Following the win, Heupel himself admitted that he probably could have handled things better. People were calling him out for his head-scratching decision to not stop the clock on social media, with ESPN's Peter Burns among those who could not believe what the veteran coach was thinking:
Absolutely baffled by the clock management by Tennessee late in the game.
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 27, 2025
That made ZERO sense for the Vols to take their time late in the game with all those timeouts as a buffer.
What just happened????
Never seen anything like that in my life
Josh Heupel's clock management had Tennessee fans fuming in Week 5
Burns' thoughts were shared by a lot of fans. People were livid with the Tennessee leader and rightfully so. Thankfully, that horrific end to the fourth quarter didn't come back to haunt the Vols and an overtime win in Starkville indeed was posted.
Tennessee didn't waste any time in jumping out to a lead in the extra session, with DeSean Bishop sprinting his way downfield for a memorable score. Then on defense, Arion Carter came away with the game-sealing pass deflection on 4th down to help Tennessee improve to 4-1. Perhaps no one was more relieved than Heupel that his players bailed him out.
Taking these good vibes into the bye week pic.twitter.com/nf4BImeZbt
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) September 28, 2025
This weekend, Tennessee is going to be on a bye and getting healthy is a top priority. Then, a home showdown at Neyland Stadium against Arkansas will be on the way before taking on Alabama on Oct. 18. For a win to be posted in Tuscaloosa, everyone will have to be sharp and be at their best. That also goes for Heupel, who has to be smarter with his clock management. Period.