Tennessee football suffered a devastating fall-from-ahead loss to Georgia at Neyland Stadium on Sept. 13. My literary contributors responded with an outburst of compassion for coach Josh Heupel.
Of course, I’m kidding.
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Jimmy writes: When Heupel went into fetal position after the fumble recovery and ran it up the middle three times playing for the field goal, he cost Tennessee the biggest victory in recent memory.
I write this just after the field goal was made – absolutely certain that Tennessee will lose because of his cowardice.
My response: Thanks for the courageous critique, which – I can confirm – was received in advance of Tennessee’s loss. Readers who can predict the future are always welcome in this space.
Jack writes: Two observations: 1. We happened into a heck of a QB. Ice water. 2. We iced our own kicker.
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My response: I don’t think calling a timeout to postpone a field-goal attempt has any effect on a kicker. However, I will pass along your comment to my wife, who loves hearing from those who support her opinion.
She also questioned the intellect of Heupel after the missed field goal and said, “I’m done,” which is her go-to line after any Tennessee loss.
But she always returns.
John writes: Yes, Tennessee could have won in regulation, a few questionable fouls helped the Dawgs score late.
We would have won if the field-goal kick went through those uprights. Gilbert has probably made that kick hundreds of times in practice.
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And we would have won if Heupel had kept the pressure on instead of wasting plays trying to position the ball for a field goal. Six is better than three.
My response: I applaud your mathematical ability.
Chris writes: UT had the better team. Georgia had the better coach.
Heupel is a good coach but not elite.
My response: Georgia has a coaching advantage against everybody, just as Alabama once did when Nick Saban was in charge. But Heupel assembled a team and devised a game plan that could produce 41 points against Smart’s defense.
That’s no small feat.
Ken writes: I don’t understand why there is no talk about the stupidity of the running play on third down that resulted in the offensive penalty. I was watching with my son-in-law − who is a UGA graduate and fan. I told him on 2nd down and 12 seconds, they should go ahead and kick the field goal; if there is a bad snap, they can fall on it and try again.
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But they ran on 2nd and let the clock go to 7 seconds. No big deal; kick it now and the same situation is covered. But they ran again and lost yardage on the penalty; there was no need to run additional clock or position the spot for the kick.
My son-in-law recognized that TN had the game won and screwed around and blew it. Yeah, 38 or 43, the kicker makes it 90% of the time; but, suddenly, you move him back 5 yards and he gets in his own head and starts thinking about it. Heupel set him up for failure.
My response: Other readers shared your opinion. However, you wrote so long there was no room for their emails. But I do appreciate your use of semicolons.
Glenn writes: Before moving to Maryville in my mid-teens, I grew up near Nashville. I’m a Vandy fan when they’re not playing my Vols. I watched them dominate Virginia Tech in the second half and beat South Carolina by double-digits in Columbia.
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They have a good offensive playbook, and it’s fun to watch QB Diego Pavia execute it. And their defense is good. Although Vandy is usually an SEC cellar dweller, over the years they’ve been decent when they had head coaches like James Franklin and now Clark Lea.
My response: For most of my career covering SEC football, I have expected two things from Vanderbilt: A blowout loss or a close loss in which it blew its chance to win with flagrantly inept execution.
ADAMS: I need to reevaluate Georgia football in my SEC/Big Ten top 25. Texas is dropping
I view Vanderbilt differently now, so much so that I even picked it to beat South Carolina. Lea deserves plenty of credit for the program’s progress. But so does Pavia, who is one confident, tough-minded quarterback.
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Now, it’s as though the Commodores have an entire team of Diego Pavias.
John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Readers beat down Tennessee coach Josh Heupel worse than Georgia did
