Midseason report: Vols trending upward
Vols ‘a team that’s getting better’
“As they say in your business, we’re trending upward. So that’s a good thing.” – TENNESSEE ATHLETIC DIRECTOR PHILLIP FULMER IN AN INTERVIEW ON THE PAUL FINEBAUM SHOW
KNOXVILLE — Jarrett Guarantano stood against a brick wall outside a victorious Tennessee locker room at Jordan-Hare Stadium on the Auburn campus and started answering a question about Tennessee’s downfield passing game.
“I think we’re starting to build on that,” he said before seamlessly changing topics.
“I see my mom in the background,” Guarantano said. “I’m sorry. She’s smiling.”
A smile spread across his own face as the quarterback made the observation.
An upset road win over a ranked team can have that effect.
The middle third of Tennessee’s schedule was supposed to be a bleak stretch for the Volunteers. It featured three games against preseason top-10 foes and a fourth game on the road against a South Carolina team that was expected to improve on a 9-4 record from a season ago.
Now, even with top-ranked Alabama coming to Knoxville on Saturday, there are smiles all around the Tennessee football complex. A 30-24 win at Auburn has changed the perception of the opening half of the season.
“Obviously a lot of challenges ahead, but a brighter look at the challenges ahead, I would say,” athletic director Phillip Fulmer told “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday.
Tennessee’s 3-3 record to this point may be about what most expected. The path to get there indicates the best could still be to come in Jeremy Pruitt’s first year as head coach.
The Vols played their worst football of the season early with offensively dreadful outings in losses to West Virginia and Florida and uninspiring efforts in victories against overmatched foes East Tennessee State and Texas-El Paso.
Their best flashes of football, arguably on offense and defense, have come on the road against SEC competition in the last two games.
“As they say in your business, we’re trending upward,” Fulmer told Finebaum. “So that’s a good thing.”
Alabama aside, the last half of Tennessee’s schedule is manageable. Of the Vols’ five opponents remaining after this week, only No. 14 Kentucky (5-1) is ranked, and Tennessee plays the Wildcats at home.
The other four are a combined 12-13, and none boast a record above .500.
By comparison, Tennessee’s three losses are to teams that are a combined 17-3, and each is ranked in the top 13 nationally.
“I didn’t sit there all summer and say, ‘I hope we’re 3-3 after six games,’” Pruitt said. “But I think there’s lots of lessons that we’ve learned every week. I say it every week, when we execute and do what we’re supposed to do, we give ourselves a chance. When we don’t, we don’t (have a chance). So we’ve got to execute at a high level for us to have success. That’s what we’re striving to do every day.”
So how good is Tennessee, really? Sports Illustrated projected Monday that Tennessee will play Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl. One ESPN analyst predicted this week that the Vols will play Wisconsin in the TaxSlayer Bowl.
However, another ESPN analyst left the Vols out of his bowl predictions.
The season’s second half will decide the final answer. For now, there are enough smiles to fuel hope.
“The truth of it is we’re not as bad as we played against Florida, certainly,” Fulmer said. “And we’re not as good as it probably seemed coming out of Auburn. We’re somewhere in between. We’re a team that’s getting better.”
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@ timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.