Patience! Tennessee Vols Are Close to Turning the Corner

This week’s Top 25 rankings show the Tennessee Vols are close to turning the corner in Butch Jones’s third year despite losing to the Arkansas Razorbacks.

This past weekend told two completely different stories for the Tennessee Volunteers football team.

The 24-20 loss to Bret Bielema’s Hogs showed that Butch Jones’s team is falling even further down the pack. But the play of other Tennessee opponents from this year over the weekend provided more evidence than even the previous week that the Vols are close to turning the corner.

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Not even a week ago, yours truly wrote an article warning that the Vols might not want to wait to fire Butch Jones at the end of the year because of guys like Justin Fuente and potentially Chip Kelly being on the market.

You would think a loss to Arkansas would further that point. But look deeper into what is going on, and it is possible to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The Tennessee Vols are under fire for blowing three two-touchdown leads this year, and rightfully so. But that shows that, unlike last year, they are good enough to be undefeated to this point. Yes, Jones and Mike DeBord and John Jancek have to come into question for their questionable play calling and lack of adjustments.

But they have clearly got the talent in place. It just needs to get over the hump.

Remember that you win with players. As much as we have questioned Jones’s coaching in clutch situations, it’s worth noting that the great Nick Saban is no genius in this matter. You just have to go back to the 2013 Iron Bowl to prove that. The 2010 Iron Bowl was just as bad.

But by and large, Saban has won because he got great players.

When looking at how close the Vols are to turning the corner, consider also, now, the first two losses for them. They blew a 17-point lead to an undefeated Oklahoma Sooners team that is looking like a national title contender now. Two weeks later, they lost by one on the road to Florida. Didn’t the Gators just destroy the Ole Miss Rebels in The Swamp? And didn’t Ole Miss beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa?

Just ask Florida who was a tougher team: the Vols or the team that beat Alabama on the road?

Consider, too, that Jones warned at the beginning of the season the Vols were not as deep or experienced as he wanted him to be, and not two weeks in, the most valuable player on the roster, Curt Maggitt, went out with an injury. The loss of the one edge rusher who made all the difference for the Tennessee defense is likely the one thing keeping them from a 5-0 record right now.

Jones right now only has a roster made up of two and a half recruiting classes. Losing key guys like Maggitt, Marquez North, Rashaan Gaulden, and then Austin Sanders and Marcus Jackson on the offensive line are huge blows.

Yet, despite all of that, the Vols should have beaten two Top Five caliber teams through five games.

Yes, the Arkansas loss is indefensible. But consider that the Hogs have returned to the form they were expected to be at.

And consider that, with all these injuries, the Vols were very thin on experience and had to rely on tons of inexperienced players to get up for this trap game, caught right in between Florida and Georgia.

It was a recipe for disaster.

While these losses are disappointing, a thin, young team is gaining valuable experience. And we know that this team is good enough to beat anybody based on the success of its opponents.

So despite everything, do not be surprised if the Vols come out at Neyland Saturday and shock the Georgia Bulldogs in Knoxville.

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