Josh Heupel states Tennessee will dive 'as deep as you possibly can' on Bobby Petrino past to prepare

After opening SEC play against No. 6 Georgia (44-41 OT loss) and an undefeated Mississippi State team (41-34 OT win), No. 15 Tennessee will host reeling Arkansas in a bit of an easier matchup next Saturday afternoon. The Hogs fired head coach Sam Pittman following last Saturday’s disastrous 56-13 loss to No. 22 Notre Dame and are now led by former offensive coordinator turned interim coach Bobby Petrino.

Petrino is now in the midst of his second tenure with the Razorbacks, as he previously served as the head coach in Fayetteville from 2008-2011. During that span, Arkansas faced Tennessee just once (49-7 win on Nov. 12, 2011). Petrino will coach his second game against the ‘Vols at Arkansas this weekend.

Ahead of that clash, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel stated that they will dive ‘as deep as they possibly can’ on Bobby Petrino to adequately prepare for the game. They will have more than enough time to do so, as they are on a bye this weekend. During his four-year stint in charge in Fayetteville, Petrino led the Hogs to a 34-17 record.

“You dive as deep as you possibly can,” Heupel said. “I think it’ll be important for us schematically to communicate and adjust on the field. But also, on the sidelines and staff and players together. Had a ton of success last year in the three-down front they did against us preparing for that. We’ll adjust to anything else that we see.”

Petrino overhauled Arkansas’ defensive staff upon promotion

Tennessee‘s offense is absolutely humming through five games, as it has scored at least 40 points in every game and is averaging 51 points per game (third most in NCAA). This spells doom for an Arkansas defense that is allowing 425 yards (worst in SEC) and 30 points per game (worst SEC). These numbers led to Petrino effectively letting go of defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson upon his promotion.

“Whenever you make a decision, you base it off of, No. 1, what’s best for the team. No. 2, what’s best for the individual players,” Petrino said. “I felt it was in our best interest to do what we did this morning, for our players to improve individually, get a little bit more motivated, and I think it will help our team overall get out on the field and compete and find ways to win a game.”

Arkansas has won four consecutive games against Tennessee dating back to that 2011 game. Kick-off between the two SEC programs on Oct. 11 is scheduled for 4:15 PM ET on SEC Network.