Tennessee football: 10 things for Vols to work on during bye week

10. Keeping a consistent rotation on the offensive line

This is somewhat coming together after four weeks, but Tennessee football had a disastrous start to the season when finding the right rotation up front. Jeremy Pruitt was not prepared for all the issues that came with that, and it showed.

At times in the first two games, despite playing Wanya Morris at tackle all offseason, Jim Chaney and Will Friend inexplicably lined him up at guard only to see him blatantly miss certain blocks. Meanwhile, they have been moving around K’Rojhn Calbert and Jahmir Johnson, when Johnson has been healthy, throughout the first four games. The same is true for Darnell Wright.

Combining those issues with Brandon Kennedy trying to get back into rhythm, Trey Smith being week to week with his issues while also moving back to guard, and the need to find other rotational guys with blockers like Jerome Carvin, Riley Locklear, Ryan Johnson and Marcus Tatum, and the Vols need to get much more consistent. This week should be about that.

Pruitt may want to go 10-deep, but if he can only go eight-deep right now, that’s fine. What he needs to do, however, is settle in not just on the right guys to put in the rotation but the right places to put them.

They need to get used to where they are playing up front. Otherwise, this group will continue to struggle with consistency, and that can hurt the rushing attack and the passing game more than anything else.