Tennessee football stayed put No. 15 in this week’s AP Poll following the Vols’ 56-24 win over UAB on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. Texas Tech and Indiana jumped Tennessee following wins over Utah and Illinois respectively. The Vols jumped both Illinois and Alabama.
Josh Heupel’s fifth Tennessee team also stayed at No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll following its blowout non conference victory over UAB.
Tennessee took care of business with relative ease against the Blazers. The Vols’ first team offense scored touchdowns on seven of eight drives as they jumped out to a 49-10 lead early in the third quarter. Jake Merklinger and Tennessee’s backup offense struggled, failing to score on its final four drives of the game.
The struggled also occurred for Tennessee’s defensive reserves with UAB scoring touchdowns on two of the final three possessions of the game. Still, those issues mattered little in Saturday’s game as Tennessee coasted to a 32-point victory despite an underwhelming second half.
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Tennessee is one of 10 SEC teams in this week’s AP Poll, coming in behind No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 10 Texas and No. 13 Ole Miss. The Vols came in ahead of No. 17 Alabama, No. 18 Vanderbilt and No. 20 Missouri.
The Vols are now 3-1 on the season with wins over Syracuse, ETSU and UAB and an overtime loss against Georgia in their SEC opener. Tennessee begins a five-game SEC stretch next week when it travels to Starkville to face Mississippi State in its SEC road opener.
Tennessee has had a tendency to struggle on the road under head coach Josh Heupel and Mississippi State is improved enough to give the Vols a scare. A year after winning just two games, Mississippi State has already doubled its win total and is off to a 4-0 start to the season with four non conference wins.
The Vols will provide Mississippi State its hardest test to date. Tennessee opened as 10.5-point favorites against the Bulldogs Sunday according to the FanDuel Sportsbook.
Kickoff between Tennessee and Mississippi State is at 4:15 p.m. ET at Davis Wade Stadium Saturday afternoon. The SEC Network is broadcasting the SEC matchup.
