Tennessee football is coming off its first road win of the season as it enters its first of two open dates during the regular season. It’s a good time for Tennessee to rest up and continue to get healthier after being banged up for much of the first month of the season.
But the Vols are looking to stay on edge and continue getting better this week. That’s especially important for the young players on Tennessee’s team, who need to continue to develop and help build depth. Tennessee doesn’t have to look far to find motivation to have productive off week.
“We can point to last year and the way that we played coming off of the bye week,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “You look at last week, excited and happy about the way we competed. Went and played the next play, next series, went and finished the game. But there’s a lot of things that we can do a lot better. And that’s in every phase of the game, but certainly offensively and special teams. And whether you win or lose, it’s dealing with what the reality is and how you get better.”
Tennessee had two open dates last season. They knocked off Kentucky 28-18 at home following its second open date but Heupel was referencing the first open date. The Vols entered their late September open date in a similar spot a season ago, coming off a crucial road win against Oklahoma.
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But Tennessee came out flat and laid an egg following the first bye week, losing to Arkansas 19-14 in Fayetteville. When Tennessee returns to the field next Saturday it will be at home against Arkansas as the Vols look to avenge their loss from a season ago.
Losing off an open date has been an anomaly in Heupel’s coaching career. Even with the loss against Arkansas last season, Heupel’s teams are 9-2 off open dates in his career and 4-1 off open dates in his first four seasons in Knoxville.
The Razorbacks are also off this weekend but this is a much more chaotic week in Fayetteville. Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman Sunday following a humiliating blowout loss against Notre Dame a week ago. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino is the interim head hog and fired a number of defensive staff members this week.
Arkansas is off to a 2-3 (0-1 SEC) start with losses against Ole Miss, Memphis and Notre Dame. Kickoff at Neyland Stadium is at 4:15 p.m. ET. The SEC Network is broadcasting the game.
