All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football: Five biggest reasons for Vols turnaround this season

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Tennessee Volunteer players celebrate with Tyler Byrd #10 after his touchdown during the second half of a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Tennessee Volunteer players celebrate with Tyler Byrd #10 after his touchdown during the second half of a game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

1. Key players are back and healthy.

The entire reason Jeremy Pruitt had to turn to freshmen and wait for guys to develop early on was injuries. We already mentioned Emmit Gooden, but Tennessee football had a few key ones outside of him they had to deal with.

More from All for Tennessee

Some of them involved players just getting back into shape after being hurt last year. This included Trey Smith and Brandon Kennedy, which resulted in the interior line struggling severely early on as well. In fact, their struggles alone kept the Vols from beating the BYU Cougars and having a chance against the Georgia State Panthers.

On the other hand, there were other key defensive guys who just missed time. Henry To’o To’o was a disaster in the opener because Daniel Bituli missed the first two weeks due to injury. Bituli’s absence is why the Georgia State Panthers consistently caught the Vols off-guard, and it was good for one big lapse against BYU. If he plays, they win those games, however ugly.

In the secondary, meanwhile, Bryce Thompson was suspended. As a result, Nigel Warrior had a few lapses trying to make up for the mistakes other guys were making, which included him also being out of position against Georgia State, making a notable lapse on the opening drive at the Florida Gators and making the game-costing lapse in the long pass late allowed to BYU.

Next. Five takeaways from Vols' win over Kentucky. dark

As all of those guys returned and got back into rhythm, Tennessee football got significantly better. Combine that with the development of the freshmen and newcomers who played in their absence, and it’s clear to see why this team has improved so much.

Home/Vols Football