The thing I keep coming back to most often – “Georgia’s defense is the best in the country” – is, of course, the most hopeful scenario. So maybe don’t trust it yet; trust it a lot if it shows up well against Alabama, which has the best offense in the […]

Throughout the off-season and especially with a 10-game SEC schedule, we’ve talked about Tennessee’s final record being a less reliable indicator of progress this year. Instead, how about, “Do we have a chance to win every week?” Did Tennessee have a chance to win today? Not when it turns the […]

That photo is from three years ago, the last time Tennessee played in a game like this. Georgia came in ranked seventh, the Vols out of the poll after their hail mary loss at Florida. The Dawgs came out on the other side of a 41-0 victory in the top […]

It’s #3 Georgia and #14 Tennessee in the 3:30 CBS slot on Saturday. That number next to Tennessee’s name may still look a little new; the Vols haven’t been in the Top 15 since 2016, and not before then since 2007. It’s true the poll is a bit sideways these […]

There are plenty of statistical talking points behind what Georgia did to Auburn last night; we’ll get to that. For now, let’s talk about what Tennessee is doing unusually well: Have the Vols ever had four fourth down conversions in a single game? I can’t find this record in Tennessee’s […]

Tomorrow, it becomes about Georgia. That really starts tonight; Tennessee’s performance at noon today allows us to sit back and watch the Dawgs and Auburn at 7:30 PM and see what we can learn, seven days before the first measuring stick of this kind for Jeremy Pruitt’s Vols. I’m not […]

In Bill Connelly’s preseason SP+ ratings, we were surprised to see the Tennessee defense come in at sixth overall, with all 130 teams accounted for. But some of the biggest pieces of that puzzle – no big plays, get to the quarterback, force turnovers – were things the Vols did […]

Without Jauan Jennings and Marquez Callaway, we prepared ourselves for two outcomes: the instant emergence of mythical freshman wide receivers, or more opportunities for Eric Gray and Ty Chandler in the passing game. It’s hard to use the word “exciting” when those new opportunities come at the expense of no […]

1-0! Feels good! Don’t take a seven game winning streak for granted The historical benchmarks for a Tennessee team looking for success typically go, “Since 2015-16, since 2007, since 2004, since 2001, since 1998.” Seven wins in a row? Jeremy Pruitt’s Vols join 2015-16 as the only team(s) to accomplish […]

Tennessee was 1-of-11 on third down. Last year the Vols had at least four third down conversions in every game. In 2018 Tennessee was 2-of-10 against Missouri. You have to go back to the worst season, record wise, in school history in 2017, against the best competition: 1-of-12 against Georgia, […]