Josh Heupel still sees areas for improvement as Tennessee roars toward UT-Martin blowout

No. 3 Tennessee piled up more than 400 yards of offense and hit half a hundred points in the first half against UT-Martin, overcoming a slow start on the first series defensively to post a 52-7 halftime lead.

Coach Josh Heupel wasn’t pleased with the start defensively but was thrilled overall with how his team came out Saturday following a massive, emotional win over Alabama a week ago.

“Obviously first drive didn’t like our execution there,” Heupel said. “I thought we’ve applied pressure, handled the run game and find a way to create turnovers too. I liked a lot of it.”

The Volunteers scored on all eight of their drives in the first half against the Skyhawks, forced to settle for a field goal only once. Tennessee racked up 442 yards of offense in the first half, picking up 342 of it through the air.

Starting quarterback Hendon Hooker went 18-of-24 for 276 yards and three touchdowns passing in the first half before giving way to backup quarterback Joe Milton.

If Tennessee wasn’t perfect offensively in the first half it was close, though you’d have some work to do convincing Heupel of that.

“Just cleaner execution,” Heupel told SEC Network sideline reporter Alyssa Lang, asked what he wanted to see out of the offense. “There’s some things we can be better in protection in the run game and throwing it and catching it, too.”

No letdown for Tennessee against UT-Martin

Say one thing about Heupel: He doesn’t really take his foot off the gas.

Even after Hooker left the game for Milton with the game already well in hand in the second quarter, the Tennessee offense kept going for the jugular. The final touchdown for the Vols in the first half came off a trick play.

Milton threw a pass back to Princeton Fant on the right side in the flat, only for Fant to pull up and let it fly down the field to a wide open Jaylin Hyatt. Hyatt hauled it in, racing 66 yards over open grass for the touchdown.

Hyatt’s ridiculous production after a monster game against Alabama last week has continued; he had seven catches for 174 yards and two touchdowns against UT-Martin in the first half.

That came one week after Hyatt recorded six catches for 207 yards and five touchdowns in the 52-49 win over Alabama.

Tennessee is likely to play mostly backups the rest of the way against UT-Martin, with a pair of incredibly important SEC East games coming up next. Tennessee will host No. 19 Kentucky at night in Knoxville, Tenn., next weekend before traveling to No. 1 Georgia on Nov. 5.