NASHVILLE — Talk about an instant message. On the season’s opening drive, University of Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel wanted to send his team the clear signal that he believed in their ability to make a play.
Because of that belief, he instilled an early tone that this version of the Volunteers will be aggressive.
After gashing the Virginia defense for 48 yards on the first four snaps, Tennessee appeared to bog down inside the red zone, facing fourth-and-5 at the Cavaliers’ 9-yard line. Heupel never hesitated, much to the approval of the vast majority of a Nissan Stadium-record crowd of 69,507 — football record crowd, that is, because the Taylor Swift concert earlier this summer at the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans packed the place with the only group of fans who can rival UT supporters for dedication.
Heupel didn’t need a timeout to weigh the decision _ a field goal from that distance was an almost certainty — or even consult the laminated list of plays he could choose from. Instead, Tennessee’s special teams unit remained on the sideline, the offense remained on the field and Heupel’s foot remained on the accelerator.
“Those are difficult situations,” Heupel said after his team’s eventual 49-13 win. “At the end of the day, you’re trying to put your football team in the best position to win. Where we were on the field, it’s the opening drive, I trusted our guys and that (Virginia) would be in a tough situation if we did get stopped.”