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Tennessee football: Ranking games on Vols 2019 schedule by importance

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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Neyland Stadium
Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images /

5. Mississippi State Bulldogs

Our first non-circled win or loss on this list is the Mississippi State Bulldogs. This is sort of a benchmark game for Tennessee football. If the Vols win, they are likely to overachieve this season and have breathing room to reach a bowl game.

However, if they lose, then they will need to do a lot of other things right to make sure they reach postseason play. Mississippi State and Tennessee are both under the leadership of second-year head coaches in Joe Moorhead and Jeremy Pruitt respectively. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have UT’s former defensive coordinator under Butch Jones in Bob Shoop, who is in the same role there.

In 2018, Moorhead obviously had a better season than Pruitt, as he went 8-5 and reached the top 25 while Pruitt went 5-7. However, he lost a lot of talent in the offseason, which makes MSU a huge question this year. Will they take a step forward with another year in Moorhead’s system, or will the talent turnover result in them taking a step backward.

Whichever of the two wins out could dictate this game. Last year, the Vols scored a huge upset in their non-protected SEC West game, beating the Auburn Tigers. That was a road game against a ranked team. Mississippi State is a home game against a team that could be ranked. We just don’t know yet.

Set for Oct. 12, this will be UT’s sixth game of the year and third conference game, following the Florida Gators and Georgia Bulldogs. So it’s the first conference toss-up game on our list. All we know is that a win here is a major boost for the Vols, and a loss makes things more difficult when it comes to trying to reach their goals.

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