SEC Network analyst and host Paul Finebaum identified his recurring issue with Tennessee as the Vols push through the aftermath of their loss to Arkansas last weekend in Fayetteville.
The keyword for Finebaum there is “in Fayetteville.”
During an appearance on The Matt Berrie Show this week, Finebaum joined the ESPN host to talk about Tennessee’s loss and what all went into the upset on Saturday night.
“Matt, I didn’t predict this one right either, but let me tell you, this was easier to see,” Finebaum said on The Matt Berrie Show earlier this week. “You just had this nagging feeling that that’s a nasty place to be at night. 12 o’clock in the afternoon? No. And it proved to be, this Tennessee team that we bought, because they beat an absolutely miserable NC State team and a good Oklahoma team, was nowhere to be found. And Nico looked like a young player, not a Heisman candidate that so many tried to make him out to be.”
Aside from Tennessee’s offensive struggles on the field, Finebaum sees Tennessee’s road presence as a concern that reminds him of years past.
“This Tennessee team reminded me a little bit of last year’s team,” Finebaum continued on to say. “They just – and the year before, remember? The year that they were so good, they let that game get away at South Carolina. They don’t travel well. … Against Arkansas, it wasn’t going to take much to beat them. Just manufacture some points and they couldn’t do it. I just think – we’re now finally at the point where we quit making these rash judgments and we did about Tennessee. But it was easy to do. I mean, the NC State game was a fraud because there was nothing to be learned but I thought winning at Norman really told us a lot about this program. And now? No.”
Check out Paul Finebaum’s full segment on The Matt Berrie Show below:
More from RTI: SEC Analyst Greg McElroy Points to Tennessee Veteran As Vols’ ‘Ticket to the Top of the Sport’
Tennessee’s road troubles aren’t against the grain of what college football is – road environments, especially at night in the SEC, are going to be a challenge. But Tennessee is getting these night games because they are proven to be one of the top teams across the sport. While previous years had the SEC’s best often playing in the late-afternoon slate, the ABC-ESPN partnership now puts the top SEC games at night – just something that the conference’s best teams, including Tennessee, will have to deal with in the new 16-team league.
Tennessee has struggled in top hostile road environments over the past few years as opposing teams try to bring out all the stops when the Vols roll into town. Tennessee looked to take a big step forward with a road win over Oklahoma in a challenging environment in Week 4 but familiar struggles reappeared during the Vols’ offensive misstep against Arkansas last weekend.
Tennessee will be at home for four straight SEC games – a benefit from this year’s schedule layout. The Vols do have road games still on the table against Georgia and Vanderbilt in November but there’s some time in between now and then.
No. 8 Tennessee (4-1) will host Florida (3-2) this Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. ET in Neyland Stadium.
One Response
I think they looked rather sluggish against Arkansas and not the fast and confident team they have been.