Tennessee didn’t lock up a College Football Playoff with a win against Alabama or Florida this season. And, no, that non-conference win against North Carolina State didn’t tilt the scales win the Vols’ favor either.
The Vols, who will face Ohio State in Columbus on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. in the opening round of the playoffs, are in the College Football Playoff because of a game you might barely remember. They are in contention to win a national title because of what they did in September of 2022.
That win against the Pittsburgh is when the Vols got their mojo back. Without that game, the Vols probably wouldn’t be in the national championship race. For those that don’t remember, the Vols beat the Panthers 34-27 in overtime.
“That was kind of our…’Oh, we can do this,” Tennessee center Cooper Mays said on the Vol Report when asked about the Vols win over Pitt, which was ranked in the top 25 when they tussled with the Vols. “We’ve always expected to win. If somebody says that they didn’t think they were going to win here, they’re not me, you know what I’m saying?
“I never go out into a game thinking I was going to get my ass kicked. That’s not not who we are. But I will say, when we beat Pitt, overtime on the road, a really good team. That was what kind of, I think, started our trajectory onto what we’ve been as a program.
“I think if we lose that game in 2022, that season wouldn’t be what it was. And this kind of trajectory that we’ve taken as a program, I think would be different personally. That’s not saying we would have not been good or anything, but I think that was a crucial win in our development that season. How we did that season, (that) kind of trajectory continued on for us as a program.”
The trajectory took the Vols to an 11-2 season in 2022. The Vols barely missed the former, four-team playoff due to an odd loss to South Carolina late in the season in which former Vol quarterback starter Hendon Hooker was knocked out for the season with a knee injury.
The Vols were 8-6 under head coach Josh Heupel before that Pitt game. There’s nothing to be ashamed of that considering the mess that Heupel took over when he was named head coach of the Vols before the 2021 season. Since then, things got special.
The Vols are 29-8 since they played the Panthers in that pivotal game. Would the Vols still be in contention for a national championship without that win against Pitt? Most likely. However, it’s a good thing Tennessee fans never had to find out.
