Tennessee football: Five reasons Vols can turn season around
5. There are matchup advantages the Vols have against upcoming foes.
Yes, Tennessee football has three ranked opponents in its final four games. However, don’t sleep on a few advantages the Vols have against each of them, which could allow Jeremy Pruitt’s kids to shock the world.
More from All for Tennessee
- How to Win a GUARANTEED $200 Bonus Betting Just $5 on the Vols vs. Florida!
- Tennessee Football at Florida: Five Keys to a Vols Victory
- Week 3 SEC Power Rankings: Did Tennessee Football’s Win Help At All?
- Week 3 AP Polls: Why Did Tennessee Football Drop in the Polls?
- Tennessee Football: Top Five Performers in 30-13 Win vs. Austin Peay
First up, they face the Auburn Tigers. Pruitt owns Gus Malzahn. As a defensive coordinator, his teams were 4-1 against him. Then he beat Malzahn as UT’s head coach back in 2018 despite the Vols being unranked and on the road with him in his first year.
Should they pull off that upset, they’ll face the Vanderbilt Commodores. Despite recent history before last year, there’s no reason to believe they won’t beat Derek Mason’s team this year. There’s no hidden matchup advantage. They should just be better.
Then you get the interesting matchups. The Florida Gators and Texas A&M Aggies head to town in December. As we wrote last week, these are the two of the three southernmost schools in the SEC. They won’t be used to such weather. Florida has never won a game as far north as Knoxville at an outdoor field after Nov. 19. Will they really do it on Dec. 5?
Another advantage, though, is Pruitt’s familiarity with Jimbo Fisher when the two face off Dec. 12. He was Fisher’s defensive coordinator on the 2013 Florida State Seminoles team that won the national title, and Jay Graham, a longtime Fisher assistant, is now on his staff.
dark. Next. Five best arguments for Vol football to fire Jeremy Pruitt now
Simply put, there are reasons to believe Tennessee football could win all of these games in shocking fashion. The reasons are good enough to not turn on them just yet, even if they have done everything to deserve it.