By Jimmy Hyams
Before Tennessee played at LSU, I was asked which school has the coaching advantage.
I took Tennessee.
I knew LSU’s Brian Kelly had won 288 games, won national coach of the year three times, won 10 games seven times at Notre Dame and made two College Football Playoff appearances.
I knew Tennessee’s Josh Heupel had 249 fewer wins than Kelly, had just two 10-win seasons, had not made the CFP and wasn’t even the Vols’ first choice to replace Jeremy Pruitt.
But I also knew Heupel had buy-in from his players and I didn’t think Kelly did.
That seemed apparent Saturday morning/afternoon in Baton Rouge as Tennessee tamed the Tigers 40-13 – the most one-sided win for the Vols over LSU since 1953.
Heupel’s Tennessee team has an identity.
Kelly’s LSU team does not.
Tennessee runs an uptempo offense that tires a defense and creates mismatches. It plays an aggressive, blitzing style of defense tries to force negative plays and turnovers.
LSU, well, I’m not sure what the Tigers are trying to do – other than have quarterback Jayden Daniels throw or run on just about every play.
Tennessee dominated the game in every way. The Vols outgained LSU 502 yards to 355, outrushed the Tigers 263 yards to 55, recorded five sacks to none, had no turnovers to two, stopped LSU on all three fourth-down tries and took advantage of four possessions that started in LSU territory to take a commanding 23-7 halftime lead.
Tennessee, not known for its four-minute offense, ran an 8-minute, 47-second offense that took 13 plays, went 81 yards, led to a field goal and a 27-point lead, and left LSU with just over two minutes to answer.
“Not bad for a no huddle team, right?’’ Heupel said. “I’ve had a lot of questions about that. I love the way we competed on that drive, that was a big drive.
“It’ll be one of longest we’ll have; our fan base knows that. That’s how we want to finish games.’’
It finished off LSU, which had little hope anyway.
“The thing I love is the way we competed and prepared for game,’’ said Heupel. “They’re not shocked by the way they played and they know there’s a whole lot more out there for us.’’
I’m not sure there is a lot more to do because I’m not sure Tennessee can play any better.
About the only negative: the Vols had 12 penalties for 107 yards.
Otherwise, the Vols were terrific on offense, defense and in special teams.
“You want to exploit every part of the defense,’’ said UT running back Jabari Small, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns. “We try to hit on all phases of the game and we did a pretty good job of that.’’
No kidding.
Quarterback Hendon Hooker threw a touchdown pass for the 17th consecutive game – one off Heath Shuler’s school record – and had 302 yards of total offense. Hooker has been so good, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said he’d give the Heisman Trophy to Hooker if the season ended today.
On defense, Tennessee used a variety of stunts to put pressure on Daniels, who completed 28 of 55 passes for 300 yards, but found the end zone just once. UT also got the first interception of the season against Daniels – a late pick by safety Tre Flowers.
Tennessee even dominated in special teams, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff, recording a 58-yard punt return and hitting four field goals.
“Any time a break goes your way, especially at a place like Death Valley, you got to take advantage of those opportunities,’’ Small said, “and keep your foot on their neck.’’
LSU had won four in a row and prided itself on rallying from double-digit deficits. But there would be no such comeback this time.
Tennessee’s offense wouldn’t allow it. Tennessee’s defense wouldn’t allow it.
And LSU coach Brian Kelly wouldn’t allow it.
“That was not what we had planned or expected,’’ said Kelly, who made several critical mistakes that hurt LSU’s chances of a comeback.
He eschewed a field-goal attempt when down 10-0 in the first quarter, failed on a fourth-down try at the end of the first half that led to a UT field goal, called two timeouts when UT lined up for a field-goal attempt, and failed on a fourth-and-1 near midfield early in the second quarter.
After the failed fourth-and-1, Tennessee scored on a 45-yard pass on the next play for a 20-0 lead.
Kelly, now 4-12 all-time against top 10 teams, suffered his worst-ever loss at home as an FBS coach.
Before bragging on his team, Heupel bragged about the Vol Nation, which swarmed Tiger Stadium with what appeared to be at least 10,000 fans sprinkled throughout.
“Our fan base, man, I’ve never been part of a road game road like that where our fans took over,’’ Heupel said.
Heupel said the defense did a “helluva job’’ and the defensive line did a “helluva job’’ and the receivers did a “helluva job.’’
That’s a helluva lot of compliments.
“I love the energy and the effort we played with,’’ Heupel said. “The defensive line was relentless.’’
Defensive end Byron Young led the way with 2.5 sacks. But Omari Thomas and Latrell Bumphus and Roman Harrison and Aaron Beasley also made some big plays.
The defense limited LSU to 55 yards on 28 carries. A trio of Tiger running backs had 17 yards on 12 carries behind a poor offensive line that played without two starters for most the game.
Tennessee delivered its most complete performance under Heupel.
If the Vols can do it again next Saturday, top-ranked Alabama will be in for a dog fight.
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