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Tennessee football: Five things for Vols to focus on during bye

By Caleb Calhoun

Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans (8) and Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren (87) celebrate a touchdown by Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) during a football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.Kns Tennessee Alabama Football Bp
Tennessee running back Tiyon Evans (8) and Tennessee tight end Jacob Warren (87) celebrate a touchdown by Tennessee wide receiver Velus Jones Jr. (1) during a football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.Kns Tennessee Alabama Football Bp /
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Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel calls during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel calls during an NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the South Carolina Gamecocks in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021.Kns Tennessee South Carolina Football /

2. Playing for four quarters

Last week alone was a tease. Tennessee football led Alabama after the first quarter and was only down by a touchdown with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Then, out of the blue, the Tide scored 21 straight points to win the game 52-24.

This has been a problem with the Vols all year. They play strong for a quarter but can’t keep it up. That quarter has consistently been the first quarter. The Vols had back-to-back 28-point first quarters against the Missouri Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks, but even in those games, their success fizzled out after that.

Against South Carolina in particular, UT was outscored the rest of the game 20-17. They still won 45-20, but that could have gone better for them. They did the same thing against Pitt, whom they jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead against.

Even Ole Miss took advantage of them having a bad run after strong play into the early part of the second quarter. They went up 9-7 and then went into halftime down 24-12. These stretches of bad play have to come to an end. UT has led at least once in every game this year, but they still have two blowout losses on their resume. That needs to improve.

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