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Tennessee football vs. UTEP: 10 keys for Vols against Miners

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images /

1. How early can Tennessee get its starters out of the game?

Okay, after everything we broke down, we get to the ultimate goal of Tennessee football in this game. Say what you want about the match-ups, and we just did, but the Vols want to be able to rest their starters as quickly as possible.

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Again, this team is facing the UTEP Miners! They were 0-12 last year, have a new head coach, and are on a 14-game losing streak overall after starting 0-2 this year. One of those losses was to an FCS school!

So for the outlook of the game, it’s clear that the question to most analysts is just how badly the Vols will beat the Miners. That should be the main focus, and with the Florida Gators coming to town next week, Jeremy Pruitt’s guys need to build a comfortable lead as quickly as possible.

If Pruitt can’t pull his starters early enough, UTEP will get more confidence in the game. On top of that, the Vols will only be thinking about getting a big enough lead to be able to relax. That added pressure and already lack of focus due to Florida could be just dangerous enough.

And if it’s not dangerous on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, it’s dangerous the next week against Florida. That’s always the case when you leave your starters in too long, and as a result, the Vols want to get in control early.

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It’s still true that Tennessee football isn’t in a place yet where it can even take the UTEP Miners lightly. But they have to be expecting to win and to win in a blowout. So the focus is going to be pulling their starters early. How early that happens depends on how big of a lead they build out of the gate. It’s crucial the Vols do that so they can relax and focus on next week.

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