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Tennessee football: 5 times Vols turned around season after bye week

By Caleb Calhoun

MIAMI - NOVEMBER 8: Quarterback Casey Clausen #7 of the University of Tennessee Volunteers hugs his Mom Cathy Casey after beating the University of Miami Hurricanes 10-6 November 8, 2003 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images)
MIAMI - NOVEMBER 8: Quarterback Casey Clausen #7 of the University of Tennessee Volunteers hugs his Mom Cathy Casey after beating the University of Miami Hurricanes 10-6 November 8, 2003 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images) /
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Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

Tennessee football has had bye weeks change everything in the past. Here are five times the Volunteers had turnaround season after the open date.

Bye weeks are a funny thing. They can take a team out of their rhythm, or they can be an opportunity to turn things around. Tennessee football has had both things happen to its program throughout its history.

They responded horribly after bye weeks under Butch Jones, going 2-4 throughout five years in the game directly following the off-date. And both the 2016 and 2017 seasons only got worse after the bye.

However, there are plenty of times throughout the program’s history in which they used the bye for good. With a 2-3 record and all three losses by 26 points, that’s what Jeremy Pruitt is hoping to be able to do his first year on Rocky Top.

Tennessee football has not yet beaten an FBS team that actually has a win. So they have looked horrible against any sort of legitimate competition. With so many issues from last year and the schematic changes, major struggles early were to be expected. But this has been horrible.

The Vols have been in worse spots before, though, heading into their bye. There are plenty of times in which they seemed dead in the water, and an off-week changed everything for them. In order to give Jeremy Pruitt hope, we’re going to take a look at some of those instances.

These are times in which Rocky Top did a complete 180 on the season after a bye. Morale among fans changed dramatically to. So let’s go ahead and break down the seasons that fit this mold. These are the five memorable turnaround seasons that Tennessee football enjoyed coming off of a bye week.

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