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Tennessee football vs. ETSU: Keys to the game for Vols and Bucs

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

8. Who makes the early impact?

Coming off a 40-14 loss to open the season with a new head coach and being only one year removed from a 4-8 record, Tennessee football is as low as ever as a program. That sentiment is definitely oozing down to all of the Vols players, and that keeps confidence low among the team as well.

Because of all of that, East Tennessee State is playing the Vols at a ripe time. If there was ever a chance for them to upset an FBS program, this would be it. Now, ETSU has their own issues, but if the stars align just right, they could maybe steal this one.

Imagine, for a second, if the Vols make an early mistake or two and ETSU, with their high-powered offense, capitalizes. They go up 7-0, 10-0, or even 14-0. Well, given what happened last week, you could see these players just quit on the team.

The mentality is not right on Rocky Top at this moment. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of chances to fix it. And it can be fixed pretty quickly. But in addition to worrying about everything we mentioned, even the players have to be worrying about whether or not Pruitt can actually be a head coach.

No matter what we say about the staff or the offseason, we don’t have a ton of evidence to go off of. And the players have just as much. So if the Vols strike early, they should be fine and cruise to a blowout. But if ETSU gets an early strike, watch out. These guys may panic and come apart.

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