Strange calls by Josh Heupel, officials decisive against Tennessee Vols in Music City Bowl | Adams

You couldn’t fault Tennessee’s offense in a 48-45 overtime loss to Purdue in the Music City Bowl in Nashville on Thursday. But you could fault the offensive play calling.

The calls were inexplicable in the final minute of regulation when Tennessee had a chance to move into field-goal range. Instead, it wound up settling for a 56-yard try that was beyond the reach of Chase McGrath, whose kick fell short and wide right.

But we need to back up for context.

UT’s last-gasp drive of regulation began at its 40 with 44 seconds remaining. It had all three timeouts carefully tucked away for the final crucial seconds in a 45-45 game.

The Vols opened with back-to-back runs by Jabari Small. Did I mention that time was running out?

Coach Josh Heupel picked up on that. But after quarterback Hendon Hooker’s short pass completion, the Vols took extreme measures. Two deep passes were called. Each was overthrown.

Wouldn’t it have made more sense to go for mid-range completions and set up a makeable McGrath field goal?

I wouldn’t casually second-guess Heupel’s play-calling. He’s one of the best play callers in the country, which made that final drive in regulation even more bizarre.

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Overtime brought more of the same.

Heupel eschewed a field goal on fourth down at the Purdue 1 and went for the touchdown. I wouldn’t fault him for that. Both defenses were struggling terribly, so why would you think a field goal would be enough?

I didn’t. Neither did Heupel.

So, he sent running back Jaylen Wright charging into the heart of the Purdue defense. I thought Wright had scored. And I’m sure Tennessee fans would agree.

But officials ruled that Wright’s forward progress had been stopped before he reached the ball across the goal line. As many games as I’ve watched this season – and as many times as I’ve seen forward progress drag on and on to the detriment of a defense – the call was surprising.

So was most of the game.

Tennessee’s postseason didn’t look much different from the regular season at the outset.

The Vols typically start fast. And they did again against Purdue. Tennessee already had two touchdowns halfway through the first quarter.

Big passing plays have been routine in UT’s offense. Quarterback Hendon Hooker wasted little time reminding us of that, completing 61- and 41-yard touchdown passes to Cedric Tillman in the first quarter.

Tennessee seemingly was right on track early, building a 21-7 lead against the 7-point underdogs in the second quarter. But this game wouldn’t follow a predictable course.

The game was marked by repeated changes in direction and momentum. And most of those abrupt changes occurred in the last five minutes. By then, the defenses had all but disappeared.

Give Purdue credit for staying within striking distance. The Boilermakers were nowhere near full strength. They were without their top two receivers, including All-American David Bell. They also had to shuffle their secondary to make up for attrition.

Never mind the attrition. Purdue played Tennessee off its feet in the second quarter and rallied to take a 23-21 halftime lead.

In fact, the Vols were fortunate to be down only two points. Purdue had to settle for three field goals when it seemingly was en route to touchdowns. The Boilermakers had another touchdown there for the taking, but quarterback Aidan O’Connell missed an open receiver.

Interceptions marred O’Connell’s performance. But his passing kept the Vols on edge.

Tennessee fans likely had something else in mind when they traveled to Nashville.

They didn’t make the trip for suspense. They went for a good time.

And the Vols usually have delivered just that in bowl matchups against Big Ten teams. For UT, the Big Ten has become synonymous with Big Win.

Tennessee entered the game with a four-game bowl winning streak against Big Ten teams. Only one of the games was close.

Despite UT’s fast start against the Boilermakers, this game was different from those other bowl ventures for a couple of reasons. None of UT’s previous Big Ten bowl opponents had a coach as creative offensively as Purdue’s Jeff Brohm. And none of those opponents had a passer as precise as O’Connell.

Tennessee's defense often looked helpless against that combination. Nonetheless, it still might have prevailed if not for those strange calls - from its coach and the officials.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johnadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee football hurt by Josh Heupel, officials calls in Music City Bowl