Tennessee football: Five takeaways from Vols 17-13 win over Kentucky

5. This team is learning to respond to major setbacks.

It’s one of General Robert Neyland’s game maxims. If at first the game, or the breaks, go against you, don’t let up. Put on more steam. That has not been the story for Tennessee football in recent years and even under Jeremy Pruitt. But they did the exact opposite in this game, consistently responding to bad luck.

We just mentioned all the crucial mistakes the Vols allowed. After the blocked punt to set up the second touchdown, though, as we said, they blocked the extra point. And that was just the start of the responses they would have.

The drive in which an ineligible receiver downfield penalty that rolled back a touchdown ended in a touchdown anyway, as Jarrett Guarantano hit Marquez Callaway on a fade pattern. Then there was the Josh Palmer touchdown right after he had a touchdown ruled back.

Late in the game, the defense overcame mistakes too. On that one drive kept alive by a rouging the passer penalty, they got a fourth down stop anyway. Then there was the Ty Chandler fumble and substitution penalty.

How did the Vols respond? They got a 4th and goal stop for their third straight 4th down stop of the game. Then they got a first down run by their quarterback on third down to secure the victory on the road.

This is a major testament to the mental toughness of Tennessee football. The Vols consistently came back from mistakes, and they deserve a ton of credit for that. Such a response is the biggest takeaway from this game, and the Vols are truly developing some real resiliency.