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Tennessee football: Five concerning signs from Jeremy Pruitt’s second year with Vols

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on prior to the 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: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers looks on prior to the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images
Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images /

3. Blown out by all elite opponents

For the year, Tennessee football played three top 10 opponents. They were blown out by all of them. The Vols lost 34-3 to the Florida Gators in The Swamp, an embarrassing saga that showed they had not come close to arriving yet. To be fair, that was early in the year, when they were still struggling to get anything going after their 0-2 start.

But then UT lost to the Georgia Bulldogs 43-14. They were coming off a bye in that game, and judging how they played the next week against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, they had certainly appeared to right the ship off the bye. As a result, they should have given UGA more of a game. Now, they did lead 14-10 at one point, but they could have kept it close late.

Finally, they got blown out 35-13 against the Alabama Crimson Tide. People will mention horrible officiating and Jarrett Guarantano’s goal-line fumble, and for good reason. But Alabama had an interception near the red zone and played most of the game without Tua Tagovailoa. So the Vols had their own advantages, and once again, they failed to be competitive with the Tide.

If Rocky Top is to prove it has truly taken a step forward under Jeremy Pruitt, it needs to actually be competitive with elite teams. They were better the year before when they beat the Auburn Tigers and Kentucky Wildcats, but they lost six games in 2018 by 25 or more points. As a result, the issue of getting blown out by top talent continued into this past year. Yes, that’s concerning.

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