How much better could things have gone for Tennessee Football during the first four games this season? The Vols are off to a 4-0 start with a No. 5 national ranking with both the offense and defense ranked in the top 3 in the country.
The offense was expected to be stout as most Heupel led offenses have been, but the defense? That is the biggest surprise to most Vol fans this season in that the 2024 Tennessee defense is one of the best in the country.
The domination by the defensive line has been comparable to the dominant DL’s fielded by recent UGA and Bama teams, several of those being national championship teams. The Tennessee linebackers are roaming the field with speed and ferocious hitting. The real surprise with the defense has been the secondary where portal additions have made noticeable contributions in coverage as well as aggressive run support. If both offense and defense operates at a reasonably high and consistent level the remainder of the season, the 2024 Vols should finally make an entrance into the College Football Playoffs.
A Tennessee fan asked me after the Oklahoma win how I thought this year’s Tennessee team compares to the 1998 championship team. My opinion has always been that you cannot really know what the Vols truly have, or any other D1 team, until you get into October.
While things look encouraging with this year’s Tennessee team following a ten point road win at OU, I’m really interested to see how Tennessee looks with the upcoming Arkansas-Florida-Alabama stretch. That three game run should give us a very good gauge of what to expect from this team going into the post-season.
By the way, look at Tennessee Football’s history against OU. You’ll appreciate that win even more when you see how Tennessee has historically struggled to get wins against the Sooners.
At this point, I believe this year’s team is probably better offensively than the 1998 team. The defense is looking like it’s going to be as good or better that 1998. And then in very important third phase of the game, the 2024 special teams appear to be at least as good as 1998 and may turn out to be better. The team is also reported to have good leadership and chemistry, both critical for an elite team to have.
From a coaching standpoint, I give the edge to this year’s coaching staff particularly factoring in what they have accomplished over the past four seasons in restoring Tennessee Football to prominence. I realize times are different now with the transfer portal plus NIL funding but the Tennessee Football program was in dire straights when most of the current coaching staff took over with Heupel.
What Heupel and his assistants have accomplished since 2021 is nothing short of incredible. And they’ve accomplished this amazing return to prominence despite the scholarship limitations imposed on the program following the Jeremy Pruitt recruiting debacle.
How high is the current optimism that Tennessee fans now have plenty of? I’ve got a buddy on the west coast that has already made tentative reservations for an on-campus playoff game in December. As for me, I’m holding out for a Top 4 seed and a first round bye!
