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Tennessee is trailing Arkansas 3-0 at halftime on Saturday night in Fayetteville.
It’s been a slow start offensively for the Vols, who are coming out of a bye week. Arkansas completely controlled the time-of-possession battle in the first half, as it had the ball for more than 20 minutes of game time before the break.
The result was a Tennessee offense that never really had an opportunity to get off the ground. The Vols managed just 3.3 yards per play in the first half and 76 yards overall.
It’s a stark contrast to what Tennessee fans have been accustomed to over the first part of the 2024 season. The Vols completely destroyed their nonconference competition in September and had a relatively strong showing against an elite Oklahoma defense a couple of weeks ago.
But Tennessee was not able to generate much momentum at all in the first half vs. a Hogs defense that has struggled mightily at different points this season. As recently as a couple of weeks ago, this Arkansas defense gave up over 7 yards per play to Auburn.
Tennessee seems to be at risk of becoming the second top-5 team to lose in Week 6. Earlier in the night, No. 1 Alabama lost to Vanderbilt in shocking fashion.
Here’s some of the reaction to Tennessee’s poor first half in Fayetteville:
Tennessee’s offense looks like me on CFB 25: predictable and conservative.
— John “J.D.” Dunn (@JxhnDunn) October 6, 2024
Worst looking half of Heupels HC coaching tenure at Tennessee. Defense bending a lot but still only allowing 3. Offense looking worse than a Pruitt offense right now.
— Cowboy Craig (@CraigGrafx) October 6, 2024
IF YOU STOP TENNESSEE'S RUN WITH A LIGHT BOX YOU BEAT JOSH HEUPEL'S OFFENSE.
Everyone should know this by now.
Tennessee is a fraud and will continue to be a fraud with that offense.
— The Bulldawg Report (@ReportBulldawg) October 6, 2024
Tennessee’s offensive scheme so far:
-Short pass for no gain on 1st down
-Run up the middle for no gain on 2nd down
-Get sacked on 3rd down— Dolan Gardner (@DolanGardner) October 6, 2024
Anyone care to explain where Tennessee’s offense went?
— Jake Nichols (@jnichols_2121) October 6, 2024
Arkansas doing exactly what Oklahoma did defensively and cooking Tennessee’s offense is probably not a great sign for the rest of the Vols’ schedule
Maybe Tennessee needs to turn its offense back on
— Kegan Reneau (@KeganReneau) October 6, 2024
Pitiful performance from Tennessee so far. Offense and defense both look unprepared
— Zac AL-Habashneh (@BabyBosh92) October 6, 2024
Tennessee keep playing around with Arkansas and gonna find themselves getting upset.
— CDR (@FutureHBCUPrez) October 6, 2024
SEC upset weekend.. Missouri and Bama go down and Tenn struggling against Arkansas.
— Chuck (@nhjetfan73) October 6, 2024
Credit to Tennessee’s defense, however, for limiting the damage. Despite UT’s inability to move the ball on offense, the Vols are still in the game because they held Arkansas’ offense to just 5.2 yards per play.
Arkansas has won 3 straight games in this series.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
