Non-conference maulings masked a mediocre attack by the Tennessee football offense in 2024. The Volunteers must score more in SEC play.
Not all schedules are created equal.
That’s true within the SEC, as some teams had significantly tougher league opponents than others. When you have 16 teams in a conference, that’s bound to happen.
It gets even more diverse in non-conference games.
Florida was playing Miami, Central Florida and Florida State while Vanderbilt was playing Ball State and losing to Georgia State.
Georgia was playing Clemson and Georgia Tech while Missouri was playing Murray State, Buffalo and UMass.
LSU was playing USC and UCLA while Tennessee football was playing UTC, Kent State and UTEP.
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That brings us to this: I don’t really care how many points you score in non-conference games – unless you’re going against a ranked team. I care about conference contests.
I don’t care how many points you score against Kent State. I care how many you score against Alabama.
Tennessee football led the SEC on non-conference scoring, averaging a robust 62 points per game. Only Ole Miss (55 points per game) came close to that. No other SEC team averaged 50 in non-SEC contests.
So when you tell me Tennessee was 12th in the nation in scoring at 35.7 points per game, I don’t care.
I care that the Vols averaged a mere 25 points in SEC play to rank ninth in the league.
Yes, Tennessee made the 12-team College Football Playoff and won 10 games last season. The Vols did that in spite of their offensive woes.
Don’t bet on that happening again.
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If UT doesn’t improve its offense, the Vols will likely finish in the bottom half of the SEC standings. Tennessee football had by far the largest scoring disparity in SEC games v. non-SEC games: 62 points to 25, a 37-point margin.
The next-greatest differential was 26.2 points.
Two teams scored less than a field goal more in non-league play: Florida and Texas A&M.
Six had a difference of at least 20 points.
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Here’s how the rest of the SEC stacked up in scoring in league play v. non-league play:
Ole Miss 55 points per game in non-league play, 28.8 in SEC play (26.2 difference)
Auburn 45 in non-SEC games, 19.1 in SEC play. (25.9)
Oklahoma 40 in non-SEC games, 16.5 in SEC play. (23.5)
Alabama 49.8 in non-SEC games, 28.4 in SEC play. (21.4)
Texas 47.5 in non-SEC games, 27.4 in SEC play. (20.1)
Arkansas 43.3 in non-SEC games, 23.8 in SEC play. (19.5)
Kentucky 33.5 in non-SEC games, 14.1 in SEC play. (19.4)
Georgia 46.3 in non-SEC games, 27.3 in SEC play. (19.0)
Missouri 40.3 in non-SEC games, 23.5 in SEC play. (16.8)
Vanderbilt 36.3 in non-SEC games, 21.9 in SEC play. (14.4)
Mississippi State 35.5 in non-SEC games, 21.1 in SEC play. (14.4)
LSU 35 in non-SEC games, 26.5 in SEC play. (8.5)
South Carolina 36.5 in non-SEC games, 29.1 in SEC play — second in the league. (7.4)
Texas A&M 32.3 in non-SEC games, a league-best 29.4 in SEC play. (2.9)
Florida 29.3 in non-SEC games, 27.3 in SEC play. (2.0)
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(Jimmy Hyams is a 6-time winner of the Tennessee Sportswriter of the Year and a 2-time winner of the Tennessee Sportscaster of the Year. He is the only person to win both awards. He has covered Tennessee football and Tennessee sports for 40 years. You can email him at: jlhyams@comcast.net)
