7. Focus on players not fumbling.
This was another area where we said Tennessee football needs to improve in general. The Vols were actually one of the best teams at not committing turnovers throughout the year, only because they had five interceptions.
However, they did lose 11 fumbles, which was No. 102 in the nation in terms of fewest fumbles lost. That’s a terrible stat line and one that needs to be fixed. To be fair, part of this is skewed because of what happened against the Florida Gators.
The Vols had five different players fumble in that game, and they lost four of them. But even without that game, they still lost seven fumbles on the year, and you just can’t ignore the worst game for them. Then you’d have to do it for every team to even things out, at which point UT would still be near the bottom.
And considering the fact that those fumbles are the reason they lost to Florida, the issue is why they went 5-7 and not 6-6. Key fumbles plagued this team. Carlin Fils-Aime had one returned for a touchdown against the Missouri Tigers that put the game out of reach.
Jeremy Banks and Madre London both had key fumbles all year, and Ty Chandler had two bad ones that could’ve cost the Vols in games they controlled. Simply put, the Vols have to hold onto the ball, and Chaney should work with them all offseason on that. A cut-down on fumbles almost certainly by itself would make these guys bowl eligible next year.