Tennessee football and Arkansas played a physical defensive battle on Saturday night. The Vols fell to the Razorbacks' stout defense, losing 19-14 in primetime.
Credit goes to Arkansas. They looked like a team worthy of winning on Saturday night's game in all three phases of the game. The Razorbacks' defense didn't give the Tennessee offense anything throughout the game and forced the offense into pressure situations all night long.
Arkansas brought a lot of pressure and forced the Tennessee offense to make quick decisions or face a sack. It seems like the Vols took a sack more often than not instead of looking for quicker passing options.
Josh Heupel leaned on his defense for the second straight game, but what worked against Oklahoma backfired against Arkansas. Heupel opted to play to not lose rather than play to win, and the conservative play with three and a half minutes left, up one point, cost them the game.
Tennessee's bend-don't-break defense kept the Vols in the game against Arkansas throughout the first half. Arkansas was able to move the ball and keep Nico Iamaleava on the sideline, which prevented the Vols' offense from getting any momentum.
Arkansas put together a 16-play drive for 74 yards, a seven-play drive for 37 yards, a 13-play drive for 74 yards, and a nine-play drive for 31 yards, yet only scored three points in the first half. On the other hand, Tennessee's offense only had 23 plays throughout the entire first half, including a nine-play drive that stalled to end the first half.
Nico Iamaleava struggled, which isn't surprising given his lack of experience. He finished the night completing 17 of 29 passes for 158 yards and no touchdowns. The biggest win from him is the zero in the turnover column. He had two turnovers against NC State and Oklahoma, so it looks like his decision-making when it comes to protecting the ball has improved since then.
The Vols scored two touchdowns in the second half but lost all momentum after running into the kicker on Arkansas' second punt of the third quarter. A few more penalties later, Arkansas found the endzone.
After that, Tennessee's offense struggled to move the football. Only one play went for 15 or more yards, a pass on the final drive. They also suffered penalties and sacks on almost every drive in the second half, which stalled the offense before it could get going.
Tennessee's following drives after Arkansas's touchdown were five plays and punt, five plays and punt, eight plays and punt, three plays and punt, and then seven plays and a turnover on downs as Nico ran out of bounds as time expired.
Tennessee's offense looked lifeless all night. Arkansas was a big reason for that in the first half, and Tennessee was a big reason for the third drive in the second half.
Unfortunately, the Vols won't be able to play conservatively on offense in every SEC game. The league is too good from top to bottom and it could be a disappointing year if Heupel chooses to continue to pull back the offense and hope the defense gets the job done.
The Vols struggled to respond to Arkansas's pressure up front or couldn't get a receiver open downfield. When they needed to stretch the field, they opted for screens or short passes. Tennessee came off a BYE Week, and Arkansas limped into this game, yet the Razorbacks had Tennessee's number.
They will have to regroup quickly as they prepare for the next phase of their SEC schedule: Florida, Alabama, and Kentucky. All of those games will be in Neyland, so there is no threat of a hostile crowd, but at least two of the three have equal or better defenses than Arkansas.