Greg McElroy: 'Tennessee can win the whole thing'

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel returning to Norman and delivering a 25-15 win over an Oklahoma program he quarterbacked to a national championship and then coached for wasn’t just a special moment, if you’re asking ESPN analyst Greg McElroy. It was a telling moment, too.

“I think Tennessee can win the whole thing,” McElroy said Monday on his show. “I really believe that. And based on this past weekend’s performance, there was a lot of things I learned about this Tennessee football team, a lot.

“Yes, it wasn’t the vintage, easy, 50-plus-point offensive outburst that we have become accustomed to seeing from the Tennessee Volunteers. But to go on the road in a hostile environment, in a game which the Sooner fans had circled, and you win the game by double digits — the first time Oklahoma’s lost a double-digit home game since 2016 — I think the biggest thing I learned about this game was just how this program has matured.”

McElroy discussed how Heupel is an aggressive coach who typically wants to ramp up the pace of play and apply pressure on opposing defenses. Exhibit A: The now-No. 5 Volunteers scored a combined 191 points in their first three games of the season while holding the ball for fewer than 32 minutes in each of those blowout wins.

“But that’s not what this game needed in order for the Volunteers to find victory,” McElroy said, referencing Tennessee’s 35:41 time of possession at Oklahoma. “So I think what it showed me is that Josh Heupel understood and could get the temperature and kind of sense how the game was being played.

“So, as a result, he kind of checked, I guess you could say, his offensive ego at the door and said, ‘You know what, we’re fine playing field position.’ Guess what? If we punt the ball here, there’s nothing wrong with that, because we can just continue to flip the field.”

Tennessee entered halftime with a 19-3 advantage and left with a 10-point victory in a game that was much more decisive than the score suggested.

The Volunteers held Oklahoma to fewer than 100 total yards of offense through the first three quarters of play. They made life hard for starting quarterback Jackson Arnold, who was benched after turning the ball over three times and even fumbling it back to Tennessee twice right after the Sooners’ defense created second quarter takeaways.

As McElroy pointed out, Tennessee pressured Oklahoma’s quarterbacks, Arnold and true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr., on a combined 22 dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Plus, McElroy cited how 16 of the Sooners’ 34 rushing attempts went for zero or negative yards. Oklahoma ended the night with 36 rushing yards.

Defensive linemen Tyre West and Jaxson Moi both recorded sacks. A total of 10 different Volunteers players notched at least half a tackle for loss.

“There’s a bunch of other playmakers in the front seven here for Tennessee as well that maybe the national audience isn’t that familiar with yet,” McElroy said. “But this is a deep group. This is a relentless group, and they showed it again.”

Tennessee redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava “played fine,” according to McElroy, who noted that Iamaleava did what was required of him — he hit a couple big plays, made the necessary conversions and finished 13-of-21 for 194 yards, a touchdown and no picks.

“I feel great about where Nico’s going, and he’s not there yet,” McElroy said. “He’s still a young player, but it would have been very easy for him to have a bunch of mistakes in a hostile environment. It would have been very easy for that to transpire. It happens. Guess what? Going on the roads hard, especially as a young quarterback. He didn’t do any of those things. He was perfectly fine.”

If Iamaleava continues to develop, his offensive line gets healthy and the Volunteers’ defense keeps disrupting opponents like it has been, Tennessee will have what it takes to dance with any team in the country, according to McElroy.

“And it would not surprise me at all if Tennessee ends up winning the national championship this year,” he said. “They’re that good, and they have progressed that much under Josh Heupel.”