Tennessee football vs. BYU: 10 keys for Vols and Cougars

10. Tennessee football’s excitement

Have they quit on the season, or are they going to turn things around? It’s pretty clear Tennessee football was not excited to face the Georgia State Panthers last week, as they played lots of downs with absolutely no heart.

Now, with a horrifically bad upset loss, we question just how well the Vols can rebound. The BYU Cougars will be motivated to play this game no matter what. Sure, they lost to the Utah Utes in the opener. But that was a road game against a ranked Power Five team who is expected to contend for its  conference championship.

The Vols, meanwhile, lost to a Sun Belt team that was 2-10 the year before, and they were down 38-23 at one point with just seconds left on the clock. So this was an embarrassment all the way around and the type of loss that a team of their stature doesn’t always recover from.

So after such a bad loss, can UT match BYU’s excitement? That’s the big question surrounding this game. And it’s a major test for Jeremy Pruitt. The good news for UT is that the players have responded well, calling a players’ only meeting and showing their anger about the loss.

Perhaps the Vols will be more excited to play since they feel like they have something to prove after such a bad loss. And there’s no trap game with the Chattanooga Mocs up the next week, so they can solely focus on BYU.