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Tennessee football: Five TransPerfect Music City Bowl storylines for Vols and Purdue Boilermakers

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 7, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium during the second half as Nashville SC plays New York Red Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 7, 2021; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; View of Nissan Stadium during the second half as Nashville SC plays New York Red Bulls. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel walks off the field after his in win the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Bowling Green Falcons in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, September 2, 2021.Ut Bowling Green
Tennessee Head Coach Josh Heupel walks off the field after his in win the NCAA college football game between the Tennessee Volunteers and Bowling Green Falcons in Knoxville, Tenn. on Thursday, September 2, 2021.Ut Bowling Green /

It may involve two teams who are unranked, one 7-5 and hailing from the SEC while the other is 8-4 and hailing from the Big Ten. However, when Tennessee football takes on the Purdue Boilermakers in the TransPerfect Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, there will be a lot of interesting connections between the two schools worth paying attention to.

Our actual analysis of that game will come closer to kickoff time, but as we spend the next couple weeks looking forward to it, we’ll have plenty of those interesting connections to cover. The beauty of bowl games is that they always come with unique intriguie.

That was always the purpose of these games if you look back in history. Let’s take a look at where they apply here. These are the five most interesting storylines for the matchup between Tennessee football and Purdue that will take place in Nashville, Tenn. at Nissan Stadium.

5. Two teams who exceeded expectations

People who follow Rocky Top are familiar with how the Vols exceeded expectations. They went 3-7 last year, replaced their head coach, lost 30 players to transfer, then lost six players from what was already a mediocre recruiting class and spent the whole season under the cloud of an NCAA investigation that always left open the possibility of a bowl ban.

At the start of the year 6-6 was the best-case scenario, and that hinged on them beating the Pittsburgh Panthers. Well, somehow, they lost to Pitt and still exceeded that expectation by one game, going 7-5 Josh Heupel’s first season. Purdue had its own impressive feats, though.

All four of Purdue’s losses are to teams with eight wins or better. They also upset two 10-win teams who were undefeated and in the top five when they faced them. This was all for a team that everybody picked to finish sixth or seventh in the Big Ten West. Both Tennessee football and Purdue overachieved dramatically and are likely just happy to be in this game.

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