Overall
Nathanael: C
Tennessee actually racked up quite a bit of yards in this one, but they shot themselves in the foot way too much. Against better teams, that will cost them big time. But it’s better to make these mistakes now and work on correcting them rather than it happening next week or in a month. The Vols have nobody to blame but themselves that this wasn’t a 38-0 or 45-0 victory, but they still won despite playing rather sloppily.
Ben: D
Yes, Tennessee racked up over 500 yards of offense, but when you’re playing a team that has lost 15 straight and lost their season-opener to an FCS team nobody has ever heard of, the Vols winning-margin should have been much greater than 24-0. Realistically, it should have been a final score of 38-0. But a Drew Richmond/Jerome Carvin chop block and Jeremy Banks fumble did not allow that to happen.
The Vols committed a season-high eight penalties and two turnovers while the offensive line continues to be inconsistent and the pass-rush continues to be non-existent. Against an SEC team, those four factors will get you beat every single Saturday. Unless you’re playing Arkansas, who was miserable on Saturday.
