What could have been — that’s the phrase that will likely stick with the memory of the 2025 Tennessee football team. To be clear, they’re not done just yet and have two massive rivalry games remaining,
but the Volunteers won’t be playing for a title this season. Expectations and what was realistic or not aside, they certainly could have been playing for a championship.
Mistakes and downright sloppiness just stood in the way.
Letting up a huge fourth down conversion late and a missed game-winning field goal against Georgia.
A devastating pick-six from the one yard line going in to make it a two-point game against Alabama.
Two turnovers inside of the 30 yard line going in against Oklahoma — one of which turned into a scoop and score for six — the other happening at the goal line and ending a drive that should have ended in points.
These are just flat out backbreaking moments for a team that otherwise has proven they can compete with the elite teams in this conference. Both the Georgia and Oklahoma games were extremely winnable games. Tennessee was a yard away from being down two points at halftime against Alabama, too.
And then in multiple different ways, disaster struck.
The turnovers were the knock on Joey Aguilar coming into the season and they’ve seemingly caught up with him late in the year. The ‘gunslinger’ mentality has been a welcomed change to the Tennessee offense, but a couple of those throws on Saturday night were just unacceptable. It was night and day from his performance against Kentucky, albeit against a much more talented defensive group. Still, Aguilar’s fumble early that turned into a scoop and score was a turning point in the game after a nice start from the Volunteers.
Oklahoma won the turnover battle and capitalized when they needed to do so. Tate Sandell also changed the game with multiple clutch kicks from 50+ yards, while Max Gilbert misfired from 37 in the second quarter. That ended up meaning quite a bit later in the game.
“First half, I thought defensively we played extremely well,” Heupel said after the game. “Offensively, we move the football, don’t get points in the red zone, turn the ball over, give them 16 points in the first half – just can’t win that way. They’re a good football team. Then at the end, just didn’t have enough to get over the hump, so give credit to them. We’ve got to play smarter to win a game like that.”
We haven’t even talked about the game-changing failed 4th-and-1 attempt that slammed off of Jack Van Dorselaer’s facemask. All of that put together is exactly how you lose a football game and take yourself out of title contention.
The frustration from fans is warranted, absolutely. There were several things about Saturday night that were just flat out unacceptable as Tennessee found a way to waste one of the greatest home environments you’ll ever see.
No, Josh Heupel is not on the hot seat and nor should he be. But his teams do have to play cleaner. Too many times it’s his team getting hit with double-digit penalties or making drive-ending errors. We’ve talked at length about end of half clock management as well and how it never seems to improve.
Tennessee just can’t seem to play a clean football game, no matter where it’s contested.
At the end of the day, particularly with the hand Heupel was dealt this offseason, 6-3 with losses to Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma isn’t the end of the world. Is it disappointing? Absolutely, considering every single one of those could have gone the other direction. It also gives some validity to those of the thinking that Heupel has already peaked in Knoxville.
For now, Tennessee remains a good football program knocking on the door of consistently being great. Is Josh Heupel the guy that gets Tennessee to the next level? That part remains to be seen. Cleaning up these mental mistakes, defensive inconsistency — maybe even adapting to a more aggressive transfer portal strategy — could all make that happen.
Tennessee has two really big games to go win ahead of a bowl game. A big-time recruiting class headlined by the best quarterback in the country will be on its way home next month.
Heupel’s 2025 group’s response here will be interesting as they try to get that momentum rolling back in the right direction.
