Dropped passes, clock mismanagement and poor tackling would have all been storylines had Tennessee football lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, Miss., Saturday. Instead, they gutted out a 41-34 overtime win to enter their bye week 4-1 and 1-1 in the SEC.

The Vols shouldn’t apologize for their performance.

Sure, there are lots of things Josh Heupel and co. need to correct, but the fact of the matter is road wins in the SEC are hard to come by in general. Tennessee football quarterback Joey Aguilar was starting his first road SEC game against a team that was undefeated.

Not only was MSU undefeated, but they beat the Arizona State Sun Devils, who made last year’s College Football Playoff as the Big 12 champions and were a missed targeting call away from beating the Texas Longhorns to reach the event’s semifinals. Oh, they are also 4-1 this year after returning everybody.

Simply put, this was a tough game for the Vols, and they pulled it out. You think the Georgia Bulldogs are apologizing for needing overtime to beat the Vols on the road two weeks ago? Of course not! This was MSU’s first sellout in six years, and they were riding high. The matchup was always going to be tough.

Pulling this game out showed a level of clutchness for Aguilar and Heupel that were in question beforehand. Sure, the game could have easily gone the other way, but UT’s loss to Georgia two weeks ago at home could have just as easily gone the other way.

Tennessee scored two defensive touchdowns, held MSU to under 400 yards of total offense and had over 330 passing yards. It’s actually shocking the Vols allowed the game to be that close given those numbers, but MSU playing at home would give them intangible advantages.

Now, Tennessee football has two weeks to get fully healthy. There are reports Jermod McCoy and Daevin Hobbs could be ready to go by the time they face the Arkansas Razorbacks. David Sanders Jr. saw his first bit of action Saturday. Jaxson Moi will get back into a rhythm.

The point is the Vols survived one of their toughest outings of the year.

All of a sudden, a CFP berth could be a lock. After all, their toughest game left is the Alabama Crimson Tide on the road. They will be favored in every other game. In fact, there’s a path for them to reach Atlanta as well, if they care about that.

Either way, Tennessee football beat a good team with a good coach on the road despite being seriously banged up at kickoff. The Vols made the key plays when they needed too, they showed they have the weapons who can step up, and yes, they had a bit of luck. So what? They also had bad luck. What’s key is the win, and they got it.