Josh Heupel addresses concerns about Texas A&M's defense

On Saturday, the Tennessee Volunteers will host the Texas A&M Aggies. This matchup will pit one of the better offenses in the SEC this year against one of its top defenses. 

Although Texas A&M did not look the part of a top-tier defense against Alabama in Week 6, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is well aware of the challenge the Aggies defense poses to his squad. And as they prepare for their upcoming SEC showdown, the Volunteers headman addressed some of his concerns about going up against the Aggies’ defense. 

“Not a ton,” said Heupel when asked what opportunities he sees against TAMU. “I mean, Alabama hit some big pass plays. In this football game, the line of scrimmage is going to be critical. People get caught up in, from their defense perspective, the amount of sacks. And that is true, but they’ve been really good against the run, too.” 

“So all those things have played off of each other. And they forced teams into a bunch of third and long. So, the line of scrimmage is gonna be critical in maintaining some form of balance in this one. And then out on the perimeter, you gotta go make plays in one-on-one situations. All those pieces gotta come together.” 

What is true of most football competitions will be true for Tennessee on Saturday: they must control the offensive line of scrimmage. Limiting the Texas A&M defensive line and preventing them from getting in the face of quarterback Joe Milton will allow the Volunteers to carve up the Aggies’ defense. And in doing so, it will allow Tennessee to advance to 5-1 on the year. 

Tennessee OC Joey Halzle weighs the balance of Joe Milton running the ball

Volunteers coordinator, Joey Halzle, has one of the better two-way quarterbacks in the SEC in Milton, leading the Tennesse offense. But sometimes, it can be difficult to balance when to run versus when to pass. And as Tennessee prepares to host Texas A&M, Halzle reveals how he is managing Milton’s ability to tuck and run, along with how often he directs his quarterback not to do that. 

“Well, that’s the thing, when a guy has the ability to do that, you can’t tell him not to. It’s just gotta be from us, on the staff side; how much are you truly going to design for him,” said Halzle. “And you just gotta use the balance of when something presents itself; we have to go play and take advantage of it. But the way he plays, he’s going to use his legs on his own, too. And that’s what he does at a really high level. You saw against UTSA; that wasn’t a design quarterback run. That was him making a read and going and getting it.  

“So you can’t say, ‘Hey man, I need you not to pull it. Because then, if it presents itself, he’s gonna pull it. It’s just us on the front end of how much do we want to run this guy.”