Heupel points to self-inflicted mistakes in Tennessee's win at Arkansas

Tennessee came out of Fayetteville with a win, but Josh Heupel does not think his offense played clean football. Looking back at Saturday's victory over Arkansas, the Vols coach said the main problem was the damage his team did to itself, more than anything the Razorbacks did.

Heupel said the Vols had chances to make plays down the field and converted some of them but missed others, Vols Wire reported. He also said the run game has to get better. He noted that Arkansas used a five-down front, and he said that was a look Tennessee had seen before. His biggest concern was drives that stalled for avoidable reasons. Tennessee has to stop "change the situation on our own," Heupel said, pointing to missed assignments and penalties that left the offense playing behind the sticks.

The game was sophomore quarterback George MacIntyre's first career start. He completed 18 of 29 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, and he threw two interceptions. The interceptions are one more example of the self-inflicted mistakes Heupel described. The yardage shows the passing game was able to make plays when it stayed on schedule.

Running back DeSean Bishop carried the offense when it mattered. He led Tennessee with 138 rushing yards and scored the go-ahead touchdown on the ground in the fourth quarter. Tight end Trent Thomas also scored for the Vols. The win moved Tennessee to 5-1 and dropped Arkansas to 2-4 under Ryan Silverfield.

Alabama up next in Knoxville

The cleanup work gets harder this week. No. 14 Tennessee hosts No. 6 Alabama (5-1) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on ABC. Both teams have one loss, so the game will shape the SEC race and both teams' standing in the national picture.

The market expects Alabama to win. The Crimson Tide are favored at -317 on Novig, one of the venues pricing the game, and the best sportsbook price on Alabama is -325 at BetMGM. The spread has Tennessee getting 8.5 points, and the total is 51.5. Full prices are on the Alabama at Tennessee game page.

The problems Heupel listed are the kind that hurt most against a top-10 opponent. Penalties and missed assignments that leave Tennessee in long-yardage situations would let Alabama play aggressive defense and would put more of the load on a quarterback with one start. If MacIntyre starts again, cutting the turnovers will matter as much as the big plays down the field that Heupel wants.

Arkansas goes to Nashville to face Vanderbilt (3-3) on Saturday at 7 p.m. EDT on ESPN2. Vanderbilt is favored at -212 on Novig and by 6.5 points on the spread, with a total of 50.5. FanDuel has the best sportsbook price on the Commodores at -220. The full board is on the Arkansas at Vanderbilt game page. For a Razorbacks team that has lost four times in six games, a road win would help steady the season.