When Josh Heupel brought his up tempo, spread offense to Knoxville, a very annoying detail followed him — fake injuries. Heupel operates at an extreme pace, putting pressure on defenses and keeping subs on the sideline. It limits the ability of defensive play-callers, too.
So how do you counter? One way is to simply fall over and fake a cramp. We saw that happen more and more as the season went on in 2021, but it was never more obvious than that notorious Ole Miss game. Every time Tennessee got any sort of rhythm, boom — injury.