The Arkansas defense was closing in.

It was a common theme for Tennessee's offensive line much of Saturday night. The unit gave up four sacks, keeping the Vols' vaunted offense from establishing any kind of rhythm, but on this play, Nico Iamaleava escaped.

TALK ABOUT IT IN THE ROCKY TOP FORUM

The Tennessee quarterback eluded Razorbacks' defensive lineman Landon Jackson and rolled to the left side of the field. Then he noticed Dont'e Thornton Jr. open.

Iamaleava's rare throw and completion down field in the game went for 42 yards and a first down, providing the Vols with hope trailing on the scoreboard with 35 seconds left. Time ran out on Tennessee four plays later in a 19-14 defeat--its first of the season.

Josh Heupel opted not to use his final timeout after the Thornton catch, which put the Vols within striking distance of a game-winning score inside the Arkansas' 30 yard line. It was a decision Heupel said Monday that he would do differently.

"In hindsight, yeah, for sure (I'd use the timeout after the play)," Heupel said. "As I recognized that we weren't immediately ready, I thought about going to a timeout and I thought we were ready to get the ball off in the next couple of seconds. Every timeout at the end of the game creates a different scenario where you are not forced to push the ball into the end zone."

Heupel used the timeout an Iamaleava incompletion with six seconds to go. The next play, Iamaleava was unable to get a pass off and ran out of bounds in a last-ditch effort to stop the clock but to no avail.

“As I rolled out, man, I seen (Thornton), he was coming open. But if I threw that ball, it was going to be batted down right away, so I tried to let Chris Brazzell work a little bit," Iamaleava said. "And he was covered at the time, and as soon as I was trying to let the ball go, I felt it slipping in my hand. I’ve got to do a better job at holding the ball.”

Tennessee (4-1, 1-1 SEC), which entered the game averaging 54 points and 565.8 yards, was sluggish on offense for the second-straight game, going scoreless in the first half for the first under Heupel. It showed some life in the third quarter with back-to-back drives that ended in Dylan Sampson touchdown runs to take the lead.

Arkansas scored 16 unanswered down the stretch as the Vols struggled to stay on the field against an unfamiliar look from the Razorbacks' defense that gave them fits, similar to how Oklahoma played them two weeks ago.

It is something that could potentially provide a blueprint for future opponents to slow Tennessee down, including Florida which the Vols will play on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Neyland Stadium.

"Structurally, the odd-numbered fronts have been what our last couple opponents have decided to play against us," Heupel said. "We are certainly capable of attacking it and performing better than we did in the run game and pass game. I'm not taking anything away from Arkansas, but some of the things that we control, we did not handle very well. You heard me say it already, but communication was a big part of it.

"The penalties just change the way the game is played. Too many third and longs. We have to be ready to go attack what we see on gameday."

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