Tennessee Football: Vols dominate UAB, should be bowl eligible

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 26: Marquez Callaway #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball to score a touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - OCTOBER 26: Marquez Callaway #1 of the Tennessee Volunteers runs with the ball to score a touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the second quarter at Neyland Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football rolls against UAB, and the defense continues to lockdown their opponent’s offense. This only proves the Vols should be 6-3.

Coming into this weekend, UAB was 6-1 and seemed to be a legitimate threat to Tennessee. They were a much better team than Georgia State coming into the season, so after that Week 1 loss, it was almost a foregone conclusion that this game would be a loss.

I don’t think any of us would have guessed that the team would have progressed as much as they did from that game until now. The defense has been lights out, we’ve seen more quarterbacks than some SEC teams see in four years, and we have learned this team has heart, a lot of it.

The UAB offense has been turnover-prone over the past few weeks, and Tennessee continued that trend with three interceptions and held the UAB offense to 257 yards on offense.

The defense continues to dominate before their final stretch of SEC games gets underway with Kentucky next on the schedule.

The offense continues to do enough to get the win. Jarrett Guarantano threw 13-for-21, 147 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. The one interception is an improvement, but if you want to get picky against a team like UAB your starting QB shouldn’t be turning the ball over.

Ty Chandler keeps things going on the ground with 16 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown. The Vols keep rolling, and with that, they get closer to bowl eligibility.

Speaking of bowl eligibility, let’s play a game. Let’s imagine that Tennessee won its first two games against Georgia State and BYU. The Vols start the season 3-0, and they have five wins going into the Alabama game.

I’m still a little salty about that game, but let’s just say the Vols lose to Alabama in a fair game and win their sixth game of the season against UAB on homecoming.

That would mean Tennessee’s record would be 6-3 on the season with three games left. Not just three regular games, they have three very winnable games.

Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt are the final three opponents for the Vols. In this scenario, a nine-win regular season would be on the table for the Vols. That’s a pretty big bowl and if the Vols were to win that bowl game, then the Vols would eclipse a ten-win season.

It sucks that Tennessee didn’t win those first two games. Even though they couldn’t pull out a win in either of those games, I think it is better for the program.

I say that because I think we’re learning in this season what kind of a coach Jeremy Pruitt is. We’re finding out what players on this team are bought in and who the future is going to be built around.

It hasn’t been an easy season by any means, but if Tennessee beats Georgia State and BYU, does the Mississippi State game become must-win?

Does Pruitt and his staff pull out all the stops against the Bulldogs, South Carolina, and nearly bring the Alabama game to a one-score game half-way through the fourth quarter?

I think some of that happens, but maybe not all of it. This is a team of character. Not necessarily of the best talent, but they’re a group of men who are doing everything for their coach to win football games.

Yeah, it would be awesome to have six wins right now. That’s unfortunately not the case and we are stuck with four after homecoming weekend.

dark. Next. The NCAA is really starting to piss me off

The Vols could have a better record, but everything is alright. There are three games left in the season and the Vols only need two more wins to reach the six-win mark. I like this team much more than any team Butch Jones put on the field, so take that for what it’s worth.