Josh Heupel explains fourth-and-1 play call in Tennessee football loss to Oklahoma

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There were a number of turnovers that No. 11 Tennessee football could point to as the reason for its 33-27 loss to Oklahoma on Nov. 1 at Neyland Stadium, but the botched fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter was a brutal one.

No. 18 Oklahoma led 26-17 when Vols coach Josh Heupel decided to go for it on the Sooners 37-yard line.

He called a timeout before the fourth down. His play call involved three tight ends in the formation, and quarterback Joey Aguilar threw a pass to freshman tight end Jack Van Dorselaer, who has two career receptions.

Van Dorselaer didn't turn in time and the ball hit him in the face mask, and Tennessee turned it over on downs with 8:07 left in the game.

"Long yard right there. They've been good in those situations and had something that we thought, as multiple as they are in that situation, that would give us a chance," Heupel said. "And (Van Dorselaer) gets hung up a little bit coming around the edge. I haven't watched the video of that specific play yet. Whether we got to squeeze a little bit and let him get his head around, we just got to make the play. I can't tell you right now but had a chance there."

Tennessee (6-3, 3-3 SEC) made too many mistakes in the first half to recover from, with three turnovers, all of them leading to points for the Sooners (7-2, 3-2). They had a strip sack on Aguilar that led to a 71-yard touchdown, and kicked two field goals after both of Aguilar's interceptions.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Josh Heupel on fourth-and-1 play call in Tennessee football loss to OU

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