This was a 14-point swing and it should have never happened. The Tennessee football team, down 16-7 with nine seconds left on the clock in the first half, was down to the one-yard line and it looked like the Vols were in brilliant shape to make things 16-14.
Bogus offensive PI call against Tennessee gave Alabama all the momentum
Then, the worst-case scenario arrived for the Vols and fans could not be more upset with Josh Heupel right now. Alabama knew a pass was coming, yet Heupel called for some play-action magic, which ended with Joey Aguilar throwing a pick-six. Everything about this play was a complete and total disaster. What in the world was going on here?
ZABIEN BROWN 100 YARD PICK-SIX😱🐘pic.twitter.com/Vw1ATo1BiF
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 19, 2025
Tennessee fans are not happy with Josh Heupel over the Joey Aguilar pick-six
During the Alabama timeout, Heupel needed to communicate to Aguilar that if his target wasn't wide open, he needed to just send the ball into the stands and live to see another down. At worst, Tennessee should have just kicked a field goal and go down 16-10 at the half.
Instead, the Vols tried to get too cute, Aguilar forced a ball and Alabama, the No. 6 team in the country, made Tennessee PAY big time. During his halftime interview with ESPN's Molly McGrath, Heupel didn't seem overly upset, but come on, this was a total game-changer.
"Obviously disappointed in that play, but we've got 30 more minutes of football," he told McGrath. "At the end of the day they've made a few more plays than we have. We've hurt ourselves with some penalties - let's go play another 30 minutes."
It's now going to take a miracle for Tennessee to get back into this game and everyone is going to be thinking 'what if' had the Vols either just tried to run the ball for a score or put Aguilar in a better position to throw a TD. Going play-action from the one? Never again.