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Tennessee football: 10 encouraging signs for Vols heading into bye week

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 Streeter Lecka/Getty Images /

Tennessee football has a lot of issues at 2-3 heading into its bye week. But there are also encouraging signs. Here are 10 positives for the Volunteers.

Against three Power Five teams this year, or against every team they have faced that isn’t winless or an FCS squad, Tennessee football has lost each game by 26 points. Their most recent outing was a 38-12 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs, and as a result, they enter their bye week under first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

One look at those facts, and it’s easy to say this is a bad team. What did you expect from a program with a first-year head coach that went 4-8 last year, including 0-8 in the SEC for sole possession, and is changing its schemes on both sides of the ball?

Add in the fact that one of those changes is to a 3-4 defense, another is to a pro-style offense, and half the roster was hurt during spring practice, limiting its reps, and you could see why there are so many issues. Tennessee football’s schedule only makes it more difficult, as two of the Vols’ three losses are to undefeated teams, and the third is to a 4-1 team whose only loss is to another undefeated team.

Simply put, the Vols never had a chance at the start of this year. However, heading into their bye week, there are major signs of encouragement. And as a result, it’s important for us to lift the morale of Rocky Top.

Look, even in these blowouts, you can point to many positive things happening. In this post, we’re going to break all of that down. These positives can relate to things that will directly impact this season, but they are also a focus on what could happen to the program beyond.

Heading into the bye week, there are plenty of things for the Vols to correct. But if these things hold true, that improvement will be a really good thing for them. They may be able to steal a couple of things in the second half of the season if you combine the two.

So given the start of the season, what could we possible be talking about? Where is the silver lining in regards to UT at this point? Let’s take a look at it here. This is our ranking of the 10 positive signs of encouragement for Tennessee football in 2018 heading into their bye week with a 2-3 record under first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

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