Tennessee football had a unique situation to start the second half against Arkansas.
The Razorbacks coaching staff lost connection with their headsets coming out of halftime, according to Whole Hog Sports, which delayed the kickoff while officials had Tennessee coaches remove their headsets until the issue was resolved.
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The SEC Network broadcast originally believed Tennessee’s headsets to communicate with coaches in the press box had gone out, but it was the Arkansas staff who lost connection.
“I thought we handled it well,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Oct. 13. “Different defensive structure, personnel, from what we were seeing in the first half, too, and the guys operated really well. We got to go finish that drive but unique situation. Felt like junior high football for a little bit.”
No. 11 Tennessee ended up beating Arkansas 34-31 at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 11.
The Vols’ drive without the headsets ended in a 50-yard field goal by Max Gilbert, which gave UT a 20-17 lead. Arkansas’ headsets were fixed after opening drive and both teams resumed using them.
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There was no official reason given for the brief technical issue. Arkansas interim coach Bobby Petrino said after the game he was told it may have been related to a play when Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar ran into a large box on the sidelines labeled “coachcomm.com.”
Aguilar was shoved out of bounds after a three-yard run on the last drive before halftime. The momentum from the shove sent Aguilar running straight into the box, and Aguilar’s helmet and right shoulder slammed into it before he hit the ground.
“That was weird. The phones when out at halftime. Someone said they think it was when the quarterback went into the thing,” Petrino said after the game. “I don’t really know. We were just trying to make sure it was equal, who had them and who didn’t have them.”
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What Josh Heupel said about Tennessee football losing headsets vs Arkansas
