Tennessee football: Vols stock report following Week Eight of 2019

Value flatlined for Tennessee football after their 35-13 loss at the Alabama Crimson Tide. Here is our Volunteers Week Eight stock report.

Normally, a 35-13 blowout loss would signal a program falling apart and on the decline. But when you are in the state Tennessee football is in, and when the loss comes on the road to the Alabama Crimson Tide, it’s a bit of a different story.

So it’s safe to say after things were rising quickly as a whole last week, things simply just flatline this week. The Vols have more to prove, but they didn’t disprove anything in a negative way after last week’s loss.

And given the way Tennessee football hung tough with the Tide for a while, some aspects might be significantly on the rise. After all, they were set to get the ball back down by only a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

Also, they were one inch away from a score to make it a touchdown game in the fourth quarter before a goal line fumble was returned the other way for a 100-yard score to put the Tide up by three possessions. Simply put, a lot of things happened in this one.

As we get set to deliver our stock report for the different units, many of them were playing with major disadvantages and had to be graded on a curve to begin with since they faced Alabama. But there were a few that still have no excuses and, if you look closely enough are trending downward. So the report is mixed going into the final game of October.

Still, the safe bet is that the team as a whole is trending upward. And with no more ranked opponents on the schedule, at least no opponents left who are ranked for now, we’re about to have many more opportunities to judge this team. So let’s get started on it now. This is our Tennessee football stock report following Week Eight of 2019.