Tennessee is known for coming out fast. The Vols came out flat against Pittsburgh. The Vols didn’t let that define them – barely.

Tennessee needed overtime to beat Pittsburgh 34-27 on Saturday in spite of themselves. The Vols had to overcome a sluggish first quarter and a mistake-filled third quarter, as well as a fourth-quarter gaffe, but still managed to eke out a win. 

It wasn’t pretty, but Tennessee survived. Perhaps that is a good sign, that the Vols can beat the No. 17 team in the country on the road while playing so poorly. 

No team wants to sputter early, especially on the road. That’s a recipe for disaster against a ranked team. Still, the Vols overcame. No team wants to make as many mistakes as Tennessee made. That’s just embarrassing.

The Pitt game proved that the Vols are far from perfect. However, Tennessee can learn more from Saturday’s experience than they ever could ascertain from the beating they laid on Ball State in the season opener.

The Vols fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter against the Panthers. Credit Pitt with coming out throwing instead of setting up their passing game with the run as most would have expected. The play-action Panthers flipped the script. Tennessee didn’t respond particularly well – initially.

The Vols led the nation in first quarter scoring last season.  They didn’t score a point against Pitt until there was just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

From there, things changed significantly. The Vols outscored Pitt 24-17 in the first half thanks to a 24-7 run, closed the half with 17 consecutive points and were trending in the right direction heading into halftime. The game seemed to be in hand before the Vols got in their own way in the third quarter. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Tennessee wasn’t the only ranked team to be tested on Saturday. Alabama needed every bit of the Texas game to best the Longhorns. The Vols needed even more time to beat Pitt. There’s no comparing Alabama and Tennessee except for one common thread. Both will get their opponents’ best shot.

Alabama has had a target on its back for over a decade. Championships will do that. Tennessee has a target on its back for an entirely different reason. If you don’t show up with your best game against the Vols, they will embarrass you. Tennessee’s offense is too good for a ho-hum approach.

If I’m Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, I’m concerned with how things played out in the City of Bridges. Heupel’s much-ballyhooed offense sputtered out of the gate and its defense looked completely out of sorts early. The good news is that there didn’t seem to be any panic. Tennessee won, but it wasn’t pretty.

The Vols won’t need to display any exemplary attributes against Akron on Saturday. They’ll beat the Zips easily. The Akron game will be another test to see if Tennessee can handle a game with composure and poise, which means playing without mistakes that would get the Vols beat against a better opponent, like Florida later this month.

Before the Pitt game, there was no reason to think that the Vols would show up flat against Akron, Florida or anyone else they play this season. The Vols probably won’t win every game in 2022, but they’ve shown every sign imaginable that they’ll compete at a high level. There might be a poor performance on the horizon, but there’s no need to expect one.

Tennessee’s defense was exactly what everyone should have expected this season. The Vols are still short on experienced talent when they don’t have the ball. However, Tennessee turned in enough game-changing plays on defense to keep the Panthers at bay.

Remember all the talk about Tennessee not being able to pressure the quarterback against Ball State? Tell that to Pitt quarterback Kedon Slovis while he’s sitting in his post-game ice bath. Slovis was under constant duress before he was eventually knocked out of the game. Nick Patti was also beaten up when he replaced Slovis, but was still able to tie the game 24-24 late in the fourth quarter. Tennessee had four sacks against the Panthers.

Tennessee, which allowed the game to remain close after a fumbled punt return in the fourth quarter, is far from a finished product. Overtime was proof of that. Blown assignments in the first quarter, allowing a blocked punt and giving up a fumble in the third quarter are major causes for concern. So is the fumbled punt return that kept Pitt’s hopes alive and resulted in overtime. Tennessee won’t beat many quality opponents with those issues in tow.

The Vols, however, have the Akron scrimmage to get all of that worked out. Based on how Tennessee has answered the bell so far this season, one would think that will be the case. Maybe?

Tennessee fans took the city of Pittsburgh by storm. In case you haven’t heard, optimism is pretty high. The Vols have lived up to the hype – somewhat. The wins have come, but so have mistakes. If Tennessee can’t clean up the handful of major missteps and slow start against Pitt, this season will be defined as a disappointment. The Vols can overcome all of that, just like they overcame that slow start – eventually.