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When college football returns in one month, we will begin to learn the answers to important questions. Will Tennessee be a surprise SEC championship contender? Will the Vols make the 12-team playoff?
One thing there’s no mystery about, though. Tennessee will be electric on offense.
That’s why athletic director Danny White hired Josh Heupel three years ago. White wasn’t wrong.
Heupel’s Central Florida teams ranked second nationally in total offense in both 2019 and 2020. His first Tennessee team, 2021, ranked ninth nationally despite a makeshift roster.
Then the 2022 team topped the nation in offense at 525.6 yards per game − and in scoring, at 46.1 points a game.
That Hendon Hooker-led ’22 unit set all manner of school records, including total offense, en route to 11 wins.
In 2023, with Hooker and Biletnikoff Award-winning receiver Jalin Hyatt gone, the Vols “slumped” to 448 yards per game.
But hopes are high that the slump is a one-year aberration. In sophomore Nico Iamaleava, Heuple appears to have the quarterback to soar again in 2024.
A timeline of Tennessee’s offense evolution over the decades is in order. Let’s rewind to the 1950s.
Tennessee first lists extensive stats for the 1950 season. The 1951 national champion team, with Hank Lauricella operating in the single-wing offense, averaged 368.5 yards per game. The Vols went 10-0 regular season. Stats from a Sugar Bowl loss to Maryland didn’t count in that era.
Doug Dickey brought the modern T-formation to Knoxville in 1964. The transition from the single-wing wasn’t an immediate success. The ’64 Vols scored only eight offensive touchdowns all season, attempted fewer passes than the ’63 single-wing team and went 1-5-1 in SEC play.
Things improved. SEC titles came in 1967 and ’69.
But it wasn’t until 1970, Bill Battle’s first season, that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nico-iamaleava-tennessee-football-match-131727396.html
Author : Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
Publish date : 2024-07-31 13:17:27
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