It’s Wednesday post-Florida, and much of the conversation around town feels like it’s on concerns with our pass defense. That’s not all bad! Way to keep moving forward and focus on how we can improve!
But in the bye week, I’m going to stay in celebration mode, thanks. Let’s spend another minute talking about that offensive performance from Saturday before we have to move on to LSU. Because what the Vols did – and did to Florida – wasn’t any other Saturday.
With Josh Heupel’s offense, we’ve come to expect fireworks. Just last week the Vols sliced up Akron for 9.66 yards per play and 63 points. Even early in year two, it’s easier to take things for granted.
And even in leaner years, we’ve seen some great offensive performances around here. Jeremy Pruitt’s 2019 team featured three 100-yard receivers in a single game, now all in the NFL. The 2016 Vols led the nation in yards per play in the month of November. And Tyler Bray’s 2012 Vols still hold a number of school records from their performance against Troy.
You can also find some truly absurd performances from out best days against bad teams. Tee Martin’s NCAA record-setting performance at South Carolina in 1998 came at 8.9 yards per play for the offense. The school record in yards per play is from the 2000 win over Kentucky, where freshman Casey Clausen threw for 362, Travis Henry ran for 139, and Travis Stephens added 93 more. The Vols averaged 10.93 yards per play.
We’ve also seen some single-game performances that were both extraordinary and important: Josh Dobbs and the Vols at South Carolina in 2014, or even what Tennessee did at Missouri last season to kick-start a ride we’re still on.
But it’s one thing to dominate against lesser competition, and another to do what the Vols did on a stage like Saturday’s.
So where does the offense’s performance against the Gators rank?
I’ve really enjoyed going back through old media guides and Tennessee’s online stats the last few days to try to put Saturday into context. To me, the most jarring stat is Tennessee’s 8.23 yards per play. How does that compare to the best the Vols have done against ranked foes? Here’s the list:
Top 10 Tennessee Offensive Performances 1989-2022
(Yards Per Play vs Ranked Teams)
10. 2001: #8 Tennessee 45 #17 Michigan 17 (Citrus Bowl) (6.99 yards per play)
Casey Clausen went for 393 yards and five touchdowns, Jason Witten outran the Michigan secondary, and the Vols ended the day with 503 total yards. Tennessee scored its 45th and final points with 13 minutes still to play.
9. 1994: Tennessee 45 #17 Virginia Tech 23 (Gator Bowl) (7.07 yards per play)
The finale of Peyton Manning’s freshman season was also the final performance for James “Little Man” Stewart, who ran for three touchdowns in a game the Vols led 35-10 at halftime. Tennessee finished with 495 yards and plenty of momentum, which they carried into a 45-5 record over the next four seasons.
8. 2001: #4 Tennessee 34 #2 Florida 32 (7.32 yards per play)
Still the greatest play-for-play football game I’ve ever seen the Vols involved in, Travis Stephens was a hero and Bobby Graham his sidekick on offense. Tennessee beat what might’ve been Steve Spurrier’s most talented Florida team by gaining 410 yards on just 56 plays; Florida gained 407 but had 20 more snaps, with a number of long drives deep into the Gainesville night. There were a total of three punts in this game. Stephens’ 226 yards came on just 19 carries, an obscene 11.9 per touch. With everything on the line, the Vols won a truly amazing football game.
7. 1996: #9 Tennessee 48 #11 Northwestern 28 (Citrus Bowl) (7.37 yards per play)
What many assumed to be Peyton Manning’s last game, before he announced his return for one more year. Peyton was 27-of-39 for 408 yards, still one of just eight 400+ yard performances in school history and at the time the most yards a Vol QB had ever thrown for in victory.
6. 1995: #6 Tennessee 41 #12 Alabama 14 (7.4 yards per play)
Tennessee’s last win over Alabama was in 1985. Enter Manning, who went 20-of-29 for 301 yards, including a touchdown to Joey Kent on play number one. Jay Graham added 114 on the ground, and this team gave us one of the greatest days to be a Tennessee Vol. As we know, streaks like this one don’t often bust easily. But on this night in Birmingham, it came apart at the seams on the first play and unraveled for hours to come. Still my favorite Tennessee memory outside of anything from 1998.
5. 1989: #8 Tennessee 31 #10 Arkansas 27 (Cotton Bowl) (7.7 yards per play)
In his freshman finale, Chuck Webb ran for a cool 250 yards against the Razorbacks, three years before they’d enter the SEC. The champs of the old SWC couldn’t keep up with the champs of the SEC, as Tennessee finished off an 11-1 campaign that ushered the program into the Decade of Dominance.
4. 2022: #11 Tennessee 38 #20 Florida 33 (8.23 yards per play)
One truth you’ll find about most of these games: they include a few snaps at the end where we’re not necessarily working the same game plan. Tennessee had 576 yards on 70 plays last week, but there has been some conversation on the play-calling after the Vols recovered Florida’s first onside kick. Leading 38-27 with four minutes to play, the Vols benefitted from a substitution penalty for 1st-and-5 at the Florida 46. From there, the next five snaps were runs for a total of 11 yards, followed by Hendon Hooker’s fourth down completion short of the sticks to Princeton Fant for another yard. That means Tennessee’s last six offensive plays of the day gained just two yards per play. Before that drive, the Vols had 564 yards on 64 snaps, 8.8 yards per play. That number would’ve ranked #2 on this Top 10, but again, most of these games feature kneel downs, clock management, etc.
Don’t lose the forest for the trees: Tennessee’s offensive performance against the Gators was an all-timer in just about any way you consider it. The Vols never punted. Hendon Hooker, in yards per attempt, had his second-best day as a Vol against Power Five competition, giving Tennessee 12.5 yards every time let one go. And I thought his diversity among targets was impressive without Cedric Tillman: five catches each for Bru McCoy, Jalin Hyatt, and Princeton Fant; three for Ramel Keyton and Jabari Small. That’s really good for a team playing without its number one receiver in a system that really doesn’t throw to tight ends and running backs much.
All told, Saturday was a Top 5 offensive performance at UT in the last 30+ years against a good team on a per play basis. Here are the three that were better:
3. 1997: #10 Tennessee 38 #13 Georgia 13 (8.26 yards per play)
Peyton Manning, meet Jamal Lewis. In the true freshman tailback’s first start, he ran for 232 yards on 22 carries, 10.5 per. Peyton Manning went 31-of-40 for 343 yards and four touchdowns. Speaking of target diversity: 11 different players caught a pass from Manning, with what I’m sure was an annoyingly similar stat line from Marcus Nash (6 for 59), Peerless Price (5 for 57), and Jermaine Copeland (also 5 for 57). This offense was simply unfair.
2. 2006: #23 Tennessee 35 #9 California 18 (8.43 yards per play)
Hello, David Cutcliffe. In the “would’ve been more but we changed the game plan” department, remember the Vols were up 35-0 on Montario Hardesty’s one-play drive of 43 yards…with 8:20 to play in the third quarter. Erik Ainge took a seat for Jonathan Crompton after that one. I’ve got Tennessee’s backups getting 88 yards in 24 plays in the final 1.5 quarters. That means Tennessee’s starters got 426 yards on 37 snaps! That’s 11.5 yards per play. Tennessee’s first three drives of the third quarter: 2 plays 80 yards, 3 plays 72 yards, 1 play 43 yards. Is that good?
1. 2021: Tennessee 45 #18 Kentucky 42 (9.81 yards per play)
Hello, Josh Heupel. In a game that still featured three kneel downs, the Vols got 461 yards in 47 snaps. Tennessee’s drives in this one:
- 1 play 75 yards TD
- 3 plays 75 yards TD
- 4 plays 39 yards fumble
- 3 plays -9 yards punt
- 7 plays 52 yards TD
- 4 plays 35 yards FG
- 3 plays 49 yards TD
- 6 plays 32 yards fumble
- 3 plays 47 yards TD
- 12 plays 57 yards missed FG
- 3 plays -8 yards kneel downs
Take away the kneel downs, and the Vols averaged 10.66 yards per play. Oddly enough, Tennessee’s last five snaps went backwards: the Vols had 2nd-and-Goal at the 5 on the previous drive to put Kentucky away, but Hendon Hooker was sacked twice for -8. So before those last five plays, the Vols averaged 11.35 yards per play. Ridiculous. How much of this game will be a blueprint, or at least a point of reference, for teams looking to beat Tennessee in the future? Control the ball and score as many points as you can, blitz the quarterback and either get a sack or give up a touchdown?
We shall see. But as a direct comparison, Tennessee’s defense was actually better against Florida than they were against Kentucky last season. The Vols led the Gators by 17 midway through the fourth quarter, and it was only truly close via onside kick. This Kentucky game was much more tight the entire ride. Hopefully, what we’re seeing in 2022 is more of an indicator of what’s to come…which is high praise, considering what we saw on this day in 2021 is, per play, the best it’s ever been done against a ranked foe at Tennessee.