Tennessee football falls during Week 9 bye in SEC Power Rankings
893. . 1-4. Previous: . Bulldogs . 13. team
Lost to Alabama Crimson Tide 41-0
If not for that season-opening win over the LSU Tigers, we’d have the Mississippi State Bulldogs in last place on this list. At least on a first impression, even with Jeremy Pruitt’s struggles, Tennessee football fans may be breathing a sigh of relief about not hiring Mike Leach, although his history shows he always struggles his first year on the job at a school.
Anyway, a bye didn’t do Mississippi State any more good than it did Vanderbilt. MSU was shut out by the Alabama Crimson Tide, and while this may be one of Nick Saban’s best teams, it’s not impossible to score on. An offensive guru like Leach should have been able to get a couple of touchdowns given what other teams had done to it previously.
Of course, MSU was two games removed from its only score being a safety when it played the Kentucky Wildcats. In its other two games, it scored 14 points each. Simply put, the hype behind the air raid offense hasn’t manifested itself yet, and it may take a few years before we are able to see it at its finest. The Washington State Cougars didn’t take off until 2015, Leach’s fourth year.
However, he finally has a chance at another win this weekend as his team hosts the Vanderbilt Commodores in a battle for last place in the SEC. After that, though, the Bulldogs have back to back games against the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs, so they could be in trouble. They close things out with some interesting games against the Ole Miss Rebels and Missouri Tigers.