Frustration just keeps coming in for the Tennessee football faithful over the brutal play of the defense this season. On Saturday night against Alabama, a game the Vols lost 37-20, that side of the ball simply didn't get the job done and Tim Banks had a brutal performance with his defensive play-calling.
Josh Heupel tried to explain the pick-six nightmare and he only made things worse
Some of his decisions were total head-scratchers and people were calling him out on social media. There's one play in particular making the rounds online that a lot of us out there just can't believe. On 3rd-and-short, look at how the Tennessee defense reacted after the snap. Just why in the heck was this the call?
It's 3rd and 2 and we are sprinting back 10 yards as soon as the ball is snapped lol pic.twitter.com/4McA2L8yNM
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) October 19, 2025
Tim Banks is not getting the job done for Tennessee football as defensive coordinator
Sure, that's a great play design by Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, but the Tennessee defense essentially put things on a platter for the Tide there. Another play that had people up in arms came after a beautiful Tennessee punt that pinned Bama on its own one.
On the very next play, however, Alabama's Ty Simpson recorded the easiest throw and catch of the night. The Tennessee defensive backs wire lined way off the Bama pass-catchers and line of scrimmage, giving them a ton of space to run a simple route and catch the ball. Why on earth was this the case?
Yes, it's hard to be a coach from your couch, but these sequences had Tennessee supporters beyond upset. It's not just that Tennessee lost, but it's how Alabama was able to dominate things. There's no arguing that the Alabama staff out-coached the Vols.
Josh Heupel is still getting plenty of hate for his clock management to end the first half and the absurd play-action pass that led to a Joey Aguilar pick-six. This team also isn't playing disciplined football on defense and that's something that needs to change immediately. A lot of fans all over Tennessee are losing patience with Banks and fast. He's simply got to be better and mix things up as soon as possible.