2. At least the apathy set in early this year.
Over the last 11 years before this year, Tennessee football has had exactly two seasons in which they won more than seven games and finished in the top 25. They have only had a winning record in four of those 11 seasons. This has been a bad program that has suffered over a decade of futility with five different full-time head coaches and seven to coach at least one game.
Every year, they enter the season with some optimism. But by mid-October, the whole thing comes collapsing down. Apathy then sets in when November arises, and the talk of recruiting and next season kicks in. Every three years or so, the talk of a new head coach emerges as well.
This year, with a loss to the Georgia State Panthers to open the year, they can now get their apathy in early. Hey, fall is a fun time of year. If your favorite team is not going to be successful, you would like to know early so you can start planning your weekends around other things.
Camping, pumpkin patches, Halloween parties, even weddings are all popular things to do in the fall. Everybody loves the season, but the trick is working it around football games. Vol fans now may not have to worry about that.
With this loss, they can go ahead and make some October plans knowing they may not need to care about the team. So at least they can avoid the misery that often comes with October because they know to get out early this year.