Josh Heupel’s Tennessee squad was about as impressive on offense as it has been during his entire tenure Saturday night.

But armed with two timeouts with 1 minute, 17 seconds left, the Vols still had a chance to win the ball game in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Saturday night. And that ride started about as well as it could.

Nico Iamaleava, who played a rough game, was able to connect with Dont’e Thornton, who worked well with his redshirt freshman QB to find an opening in the Razorbacks secondary. Iamaleava threw a slightly different but catchable ball that Thornton squirmed home beautifully. The Vols were now on the Arkansas 25 with a chance to win the game.

But instead of using one of his two timeouts, Heupel decided to let Tennessee play it out. That decision cost the Vols a much-needed 20 seconds and limited the game to four plays instead of five or six. More importantly, it would have given his freshman QB time to calm his nerves and prepare for the next play.

On Monday, Heupel admitted that he should have called that timeout. He said he thought the Vols would be better prepared to emerge from the crisis at a faster pace.

Josh Heupel admits he wishes he had called a timeout after Dont’e Thornton’s catch on the final series of the game.

It felt like they were more willing to take the photo down at that moment than they actually were.

— Ben McKee (@benmckee14) October 7, 2024

The Vols are back in action this weekend against Florida, which is currently playing its best football of the season. The Gators beat a good UCF team last week and have been known to give the Vols fits in the past regardless of their final record.

Kickoff for the Week 7 battle in Knoxville is Saturday evening at 7 p.m.