Tennessee’s high-octane offense – and its playoff hopes – rested on the loss to Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – Fans flocked to the field in their hundreds.

Tennessee did what it could to get off the field, pushing through an avalanche of students to reach the locker room after suffering a 19-14 loss at Arkansas. Receiver Squirrel White was one of the last stone-faced Vols to escape the sideline. His right arm hung in a black sling after being injured at the end of the game as police escorted him through the cheering fans.

A few minutes later, “Rocky Top” blared from the stadium speakers, adding insult to injury.

Tennessee’s record? Flawed.

Is it a high-profile offense? Grounded.

His college football playoff hopes? Bruised.

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In the new world of college football and an expanded 12-team playoff roster, those are injuries that can heal, but the Vols still have Georgia and Alabama ahead, not to mention an improving Florida team next week, which has beaten them 17 times in the last 19 meetings this season.

“(Coach Josh Heupel) said it: We still have everything to do. We still have all of our goals ahead of us,” said quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who completed 17 of 29 passes for 158 yards.

It was a season low for yards and the first time he completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes in a start. It was also the first time he was held without a touchdown pass.

From a purely mathematical perspective, it is true that the volunteers’ goals still lie ahead of them. The College Football Playoff committee has shown time and time again that it cares far more about which teams beat than who beats them, so a loss to Georgia or Alabama could ultimately mean more than this loss to Arkansas – because it would be both missed opportunity in a win over a likely top 10 team.

But a loss to Arkansas and a scoring factory that suddenly shut down when facing a defense that ranked 55th nationally in yards per game raises questions about early-season wins against NC State (now 3-3 and 0-2) ACC) and Oklahoma mean hindsight, and whether Arkansas would give future opponents some answers on how to slow the Vols.

“I don’t think we did the usual things on offense at a high level,” Heupel said. “It wasn’t good enough for me tonight.”

Tennessee only managed one completion of more than 20 yards on 29 attempts.

“We wouldn’t let them go if we could help it,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said.

Tennessee’s offense didn’t look as dominant as it once did in the two SEC games. (Nelson Chenault/Imagn Images)

On Saturday, Iamaleava looked like a first-year starter making his second career road start. He missed a handful of makeable throws and, most frustratingly, fought for a short lead on the final play when Tennessee needed 20 yards and six points to win.

“You have to get the ball up and give one of your guys a chance to make a play. Nico, like me and the rest of our football team, wished we had played better,” said Heupel. “In this situation you can’t keep the ball in your hands.”

Previously, Alabama lost at Vanderbilt a week after Georgia’s first loss.

Texas, which sat idle Saturday and prepared for next week’s Red River showdown against Oklahoma, is now the only undefeated SEC team.

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If Tennessee had managed to win as a two-touchdown favorite, it could have joined the Longhorns as the two teams with a strong path to the SEC Championship Game and a massive path to the 12-team playoffs.

Instead, the question remains what happened to this shocking loss after he showed nothing but dominance in the first month of the season, rising from No. 15 to No. 4 in the AP poll.

Offensively, Arkansas controlled the first half with long, sustained attacks, but also attacks that ended in turnovers on downs. The Razorbacks got inside Tennessee’s 25-yard line three times in the first half but only took a 3-0 lead. After each team’s first three drives, Arkansas had run 35 plays. Tennessee was ranked 14th.

The Razorbacks rallied after falling behind 14-3 when Tennessee scored on the first two drives of the second half and threatened to wipe out their early game luck. The Vols again failed to score.

Running back Dylan Sampson, who got Tennessee on the field on the first drive of the second half and finished with 138 yards and two scores on 22 carries, suggested the team wasn’t focused enough during the bye week.

Heupel pointed to a 3-3-5 alignment from defensive coordinator Travis Williams, which Arkansas hadn’t shown on tape this season, that surprised Tennessee. Williams pitched his idea to Pittman on Sunday night as they came up with a game plan and began implementing it on Monday. It couldn’t have worked better.

The offensive line recorded a season-high four sacks, had four false starts and the offense added an illegal snap and a delay of game.

Whatever the reason, it was clear for 60 minutes that a Tennessee team with a paved path to the playoffs wasn’t good enough in a difficult road game in front of 75,573 spectators, the sixth-largest crowd ever to see a game in Fayetteville was.

Tennessee became the fifth top-15 team to lose on Saturday and the first top-5 team to lose at Arkansas since 1999. This team? Tennessee, fresh off its last national title.

“When it was over, I thought about how proud Arkansas State is of its football team,” Pittman said. “That’s the only damn reason, well it’s not the reason I took the job, but it’s one of the main reasons I came here. I wanted to make the state proud of the team.”

Pittman waited in the Arkansas tunnel while his team left the chaos on the field for a more exclusive party in the locker room. Williams caught Pittman’s eye and smiled broadly as the two hugged.

Nearly 30 minutes later, Iamaleava emerged from the Tennessee locker room in a gray hoodie and Tennessee shorts and made his way onto the field to spend some time with his waiting family. His father gave him a long hug and spoke quietly in his ear for more than a minute.

“When moments like this happen, the outside world will have a narrative for you,” Heupel said. “We talk about it when things are going well. Things didn’t go well tonight. You have to look your teammates in the eyes. These are the opinions that count.”

Technically speaking, that’s true.

But in the playoff-dominated world of college football, the 13 committee members are really the only opinions that matter.

And on Saturday, Tennessee’s performance changed the way these 13 committee members viewed the Vols.

(Top photo by Dylan Sampson: Nelson Chenault / Imagn Images)