All in all, though, Erik Ainge’s first impression of the no-huddle attack was quite favorable.
“One of the advantages of the no-huddle is they (defenders) don’t know what’s coming – whether you’re running or throwing the football,” Ainge said following the two-hour intrasquad workout at Neyland Stadium.
The purpose of the huddle, of course, is to call a play without the defense hearing it. So, if you’re going to announce the play at the line of scrimmage, you’d better be sure the defenders don’t recognize it.
As Ainge noted: “You’ve got to have good code names and a good on-the-ball system to where, when I make a call, they can’t say ‘Run’ or ‘Pass.’ Right now we’re doing a good job of mixing it up.”
Ainge handled the no-huddle attack a lot better than he handled the 45 mile-per-hour winds that swirled around Shields-Watkins Field. Although he completed just 9 of 26 passes for 90 yards, he was not discouraged by his performance.
“Obviously, it wasn’t the best conditions to throw in,” he conceded, “but we’re not necessarily worried about a completion percentage. We wanted to come out and be physical. We wanted to come out and run the football, and I thought we did a pretty exceptional job running the football and handling protections and all of that aspect.
“We’re not worried about the passing game right now. We just wanted to come out and execute the running game.”
The Vols succeeded on that count. Arian Foster gained 98 yards on 19 carries. LaMarcus Coker chipped in 60 yards on eight rushes and walk-on Roy Olasimbo added 50 on 15 attempts.