Josh Heupel explains decision to kick without resetting spot after penalty vs. Georgia

The Tennessee Volunteers and Georgia Bulldogs played a thriller in Neyland Stadium on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Volunteers, this game ended the same way so many have in this rivalry, with the Bulldogs winning. So, once again, head coach Josh Heupel is back at the drawing board.

Tennessee had its shot to win the game too. After jumping out to an early lead, it became a back-and-forth game and was tied late in the fourth quarter. That’s when the Volunteers had a chance to kick a game winning field goal that would, ultimately, sail wide right and send the game into overtime.

After the game, Heupel explained that the penalty on the play beforehand pushed Tennessee back. Because of that, he chose not to reset where the ball was spotted on the next play because he didn’t want to lose any further yardage. It was a decision that, ultimately, didn’t work out.

“We were going to move it more to the upright,” Josh Heupel said. “Where we were at, yard line, didn’t want to have any lost yardage. So, with everything that transpired, that’s why we kicked it when we did.”

Tennessee kicker Max Gilbert pushed the ball wide right from his kick off the left hash to end regulation. He’d quickly get another shot in overtime, which he made from a similar position. However, it wasn’t good enough as the Tennessee defense couldn’t get a stop and Georgia scored a touchdown in response. With that, the Bulldogs have won nine in a row in this series. That ties the longest win streak in the series’ history.

For many, there was room to question how Josh Heupel handled the fourth quarter in general. In particular, he was criticized for what seemed like overly conservative playcalling. In particular, when Tennessee called three-straight run plays, settling for a long field goal midway through the fourth quarter to make it an eight-point game, instead of trying to be aggressive and potentially score a touchdown to make it a two-score game.

“It’s a situation where they’re in the two-high bracket coverage. We obviously don’t pick up what we need to. We get behind the chains,” Heupel explained. “And I was willing to be aggressive there if we got to a fourth down, too, had a little trap play. And end up losing inside on it. And we don’t pick it up and end up having to kick. And you got a chance to take it to full two possessions, for sure. But, first to second down, a little bit of how they were playing was why we were doing what we were doing, too.”

Hindsight is always 20/20. It’s going to be particularly tough when decisions don’t work out. For now, though, Tennessee will need to learn from that loss and bounce back next week against UAB.