Tennessee football: Inside the Vols’ elite 2022 offense

There’s a three-play sequence that offers a near-total snapshot of Tennessee’s offense this season because the Vols debut at No. 1 within the first School Soccer Playoff rankings of 2022. It got here in the course of the epic tide-shifting win over Alabama, early within the second quarter.

On first-and-10 out of a stoppage, Tennessee short-motions one receiver right into a stack alignment and hits a modest in-breaking route that goes for an enormous achieve. The Vols comply with it up virtually instantly with a run play that goes for a brief achieve inside the ten. They line up once more for a play that finally ends up being stopped by the officers, after which they rating on a two-yard plunge.

It is probably not what you consider with the Tennessee offense when you’re anticipating the highlights you’ve seen of streaking receivers in acres of area (and who doesn’t love watching receiver Jalin Hyatt behind a busted protection 50 yards downfield from QB Hendon Hooker?). However these performs showcase the issues that make this offense so troublesome to cease from a down-to-down foundation. Like all good unit, Tennessee has 5 core offensive philosophies:

1. Tempo
2. Spacing
3. Vertical run sport
4. Vertical go sport
5. Personnel placement

They have been all on show in opposition to the Crimson Tide.

Play 1

You’ll typically see Tennessee truly line up in a formation like this, with receivers unfold so extensive all 11 gamers don’t match on the display (there’s a participant on the backside of the shot for every group exterior the numbers and a stack receiver alignment on the prime). There’s additionally the spacing component of the equation. A soccer discipline is 53⅓ yards extensive, and the Vols use mainly each inch of it. It forces defenses to select.

You may defend with fewer gamers up entrance (known as a light-weight field), like Kentucky did on Hyatt’s opening landing within the first quarter of final Saturday’s sport. Theoretically, this provides you a greater likelihood to cease the go as a result of the truth that you’ve allotted extra our bodies to protection as a result of the vertical passing sport is such an important a part of what Tennessee does. However even that didn’t work for the Wildcats …

… due to their incapability to speak who would defend whom distributing out of the stack alignment. On the play above, Hyatt simply ran by the defensive again.

On Play 1, from the Bama sport, Tennessee motions to the stack alignment and truly runs a route mixture that finally ends up being extra of an intermediate look. This will get at Tennessee’s personnel placement philosophy, bringing the surface receiver right into a stack alignment, then releasing him inside on the snap. The ball goes to Ramel Keyton on an in-breaking route for an enormous achieve.

Seemingly due to Tennessee’s intensely vertical passing assault (it has 30 go performs of 30+ yards and leads the nation by a margin of seven by way of eight video games), Alabama’s DBs are enjoying this with loads of cushion to provide them some extra time to decipher how Tennessee’s WRs are going to distribute out of the stack (the benefit of enjoying out of such an alignment).

Generally the Vols don’t truly use the vertical go—merely the specter of it’s sufficient—and so they create an enormous play, anyway.

Play 2

Now, we get the tempo piece.

“More often than not we’re going so quick, I wish to be sure I get a have a look at the again finish, have a look at the construction of the protection,” Hooker says. “After we see somebody getting drained, and their physique language is displaying fatigue, we wish to enhance our tempo much more.”

Some coaches contemplate tempo merely a instrument (even Tennessee coach Josh Heupel has mentioned so up to now), however it is vitally a lot the Vols’ id.

Tennessee can’t actually run one thing up-tempo out of a stoppage, and it tends to decide in opposition to going up-tempo on third downs in long-yardage apparent passing conditions. This provides Hooker time to learn what defenses could also be bringing in what is usually a state of affairs the place they throw a changeup within the type of a novel stress package deal to get off the sphere. However, as an example, when Tennessee will get a primary down on an enormous play, defenses must be prepared as a result of up-tempo is coming—and the Vols go about as quick as bodily potential after they actually put the hammer down. Snapping it inside 13 seconds of the earlier play after an enormous achieve offers defenses a novel drawback to defend. Defenses are scrambling after taking a haymaker; typically they’re not all the best way lined up (which may make it difficult for Tennessee’s linemen to truly know what their assignments are), however some great benefits of the tempo outweigh the negatives.

“They’ll go as quick as anyone within the nation,” Georgia’s Kirby Sensible mentioned this week. “They apply it, they preach it, they do a very good job researching themselves and determining how they will get quicker. And our job is to have the ability to match that tempo and match that conditioning stage.”

When Keyton catches the ball in the course of the play beneath, there’s an official close to him on the sideline. However he doesn’t merely flip the ball to him out on the aspect—he runs again towards the center of the sphere to get the ball to the umpire, who usually has the accountability of recognizing it for the subsequent play.

It might probably typically be troublesome to see on a broadcast, as a result of the TV crew usually doesn’t present what’s taking place stay in lieu of a close-up or a crowd shot or a replay, however Tennessee has a novel approach of stealing seconds again that it refers to as ball mechanics.

As soon as the play ends, everybody has a job to do to be in the correct place to function rapidly. The middle splits the distinction between the place the road decide (who operates on the sideline nearer to the offense) and the hash the place the ball will probably be noticed. The wideouts get set, ensuring the referees know which one in all them is on and off the ball to keep away from unlawful formation penalties, and know whether or not they’re tackled in bounds or out of bounds to get the ball to the umpire who’s on the center of the sphere. They’ll then line up about 12 yards away from the ball on the defensive aspect.

The quarterbacks and working backs, if tackled behind the road of scrimmage, know to search for the middle decide (who strains up behind the QB), and in the event that they get a constructive achieve of greater than two yards, they get the ball to the umpire. As Tennessee’s playbook graphic states, “the quickest technique to get the ball set is to get the ball inside.”

This additionally hurts an opposing protection, as a result of it could actually’t substitute, and it may be lethal after an enormous passing play. To match up with Tennessee in open play along with enjoying a light-weight field, groups are sometimes enjoying with bodily lighter personnel in subpackages the place they substitute a lineman or a linebacker off for a defensive again to assist defend the go. That may be useful once you’re making an attempt to chase Tennessee’s vertical passing sport, nevertheless it’s detrimental once you’re making an attempt to defend Tennessee’s vertical working sport.

The splashy passes are nice from the Vols, however the run sport is the engine that makes the factor go. Tennessee typically runs performs just like the above and counter, that are known as vertical working performs as a result of they’re straight-ahead performs that get into the protection instantly versus an outside-zone scheme the place the offensive linemen work more laterally on the snap, and the working again might be affected person and make a learn earlier than making his lower.

It may be troublesome for defenses to generate unfavourable performs on vertical run ideas when executed appropriately, and in case your field additionally occurs to be gentle so far as the variety of our bodies in it, Tennessee’s mauling offensive line goes to get the higher of you in one-on-ones. Its speeding success goes a great distance in explaining how good it’s within the purple zone, main the nation in factors per drive and touchdowns scored within the purple zone. When area will get tight, particularly inside the ten, you’ve received to have the ability to run the ball, and the Vols do it successfully sufficient to pair with their explosive passing sport.

Play 3

Technically there’s a fourth play nullified by a penalty within the Alabama sport sequence, as a result of Tennessee goes so quick there’s confusion. What’s initially referred to as a false begin will get wiped away because the officers decide even they weren’t prepared for the play to begin as a result of they hadn’t assumed their positions rapidly sufficient.

However for all of the pacing and spacing, Tennessee will kick it old-school when it actually must, even lining up in an I formation with a good finish within the backfield and working fullback dive (bear in mind: personnel placement) to hit pay dust and full a quick-strike landing drive.

“On the finish of the day, it nonetheless comes all the way down to execution,” Heupel mentioned. “So, once we’re good within the purple zone, it’s as a result of the quarterback’s making good choices; it’s as a result of we’re capable of run the soccer successfully, make aggressive one-on-one catches. The tempo might be a bonus for us, however you’ve seen us at instances decelerate and nonetheless execute, too. Our guys are capable of be versatile in what we’re doing and on the finish of the day once you’re down there, choices occur quicker on your quarterback; you’ve received to make aggressive performs, our talent guys are doing that, and we’ve been actually bodily up entrance.”

Even past what’s defined right here, there are many causes Tennessee’s offense is pretty much as good a unit as we’ve seen in school soccer for a number of years now. The system Heupel & Co. have constructed is on a sound basis that exploits conditions to provide factors aplenty. Now, on Saturday, it faces its stiffest check in opposition to the most effective defenses within the nation. Georgia’s D is no less than schematically in the identical household because the Alabama group the Vols shredded, and the way the Dawgs defend Tennessee—and the way they fare—will probably be fascinating. 

Extra School Soccer Protection:

• Tennessee, Georgia and the Vols’ Urge for food for Destruction
• Week 10 Professional Picks for Tennessee-Georgia, Extra
• How a 12-Group CFP Would Look Proper Now