Josh Heupel pushes back on 'laughable' perception of Tennessee running an Air Raid offense

After posting 69 points in their season opener against FCS Chattanooga, Tennessee didn’t skip a beat this Saturday in their matchup against NC State at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. Defeating the Wolfpack in an impressive 51-10 victory that jumped them up to a No. 7 ranking in the most recent AP Top 25 Poll.

The Vols primarily did their damage on the ground offensively, rushing for a whopping 249 yards against the Wolfpack. An offense primarily known for its passing attack that has had some believe that head coach Josh Heupel’s offensive scheme is an Air Raid.

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“That’s kind of laughable to me to be honest,” Heupel said during his press conference on Monday. “You look at our ability to run the football since we’ve been here statistically over the last close to decade, we’ve always ran the ball really efficiently and effectively. We have balance. We do create big plays in the pass game, but we create those things in the run game too.”

In 2022, Heupel’s second year at the helm for Tennessee, his offense took the nation by storm. A historic 11-2 season where the Volunteers led the SEC in passing with 326.1 yards through the air per game. But last season following the departure of quarterback Hendon Hooker, Heupel and his offense adapted. Leading the SEC in rushing for 2023 with 204.8 rushing yards per game.

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This season the Volunteers have been quite balanced between the air and the ground, rushing for 553 yards and passing for 625 yards through two games this season. Playing with a physical nature on Saturday even beyond the run game that Tennessee’s head man has been pleased with.

“I was proud of the physicality that we played with on the offensive line. Our tight ends are running backs played that way, too. And same thing on the other side of the football, you look at the way our front seven played at the line of scrimmage, that was a big part of the football game,” Heupel concluded.

Tennessee has a great opportunity to continue building on their offensive dominance this weekend when they host Kent State at 7:45 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on SEC Network.