Businesslike blowout just what the doctor ordered for Vols
After a tough 2018 opener against No. 14 West Virginia, Tennessee limped home from Charlotte in need of a strong remedy.
ETSU was just what the doctor ordered Saturday.
In Jeremy Pruitt’s home debut at Neyland Stadium, a slew of underclassmen served up some orange-flavored Robitussin for the Tennessee faithful, as the Vols rolled past the Bucs 59-3 with multiple newcomers and underclassman spearheading the rout.
Bryce Thompson. Emmitt Gooden. Jeremy Banks. Jarrett Guarantano. Jerome Carvin. Theo Jackson. Josh Palmer. Jordan Murphy. Madre London.
Want a reason to be optimistic, Vol fans?
Read those names again.
Then do it again.
While 2018 will likely shape up to be a long year on The Hill, Saturday was at least a glimpse of what Pruitt wants his team to look like in the future.
An opportunistic defense. An explosive offense and dangerous special teams.
Sure, it was ETSU. And glaring concerns — namely the offensive line and a lack of pass rush — remain, but the Vols never had a game like this in 2017.
They finally had some fun. They partied in the checkerboard end zone during and after the game.
Saturday certainly didn't get off to a pretty start for the Vols — they finished the first quarter with -1 rushing yards — but a 48-minute delay early in the second quarter seemed to actually ignite a sluggish squad and wake them up.
Pruitt credited the S&C staff for the team’s renewed energy after the long layoff, with Tennessee scoring 28 quick points jumpstarted by Thompson’s near pick-six.
Banks and London then each found the end zone twice, while Murphy and Palmer scored long touchdowns, too. Gooden led Tennessee in tackles, adding 3 TFLs and a sack.
Afterward, Pruitt seemed pleased, perhaps even begrudgingly, with his team’s performance.
“Probably, you’ll figure out, the more games we win, I’ll probably be a little more ticked at the games we win.”
"There’s a standard we want to play to,” he added. “Everything wasn’t perfect this week, everything wasn’t perfect in the last couple days, trying to get things right. Even our warmups today. But we’re learning from it. And I think it will make us a better football team and will make us a better football program.”
And that’s what made Saturday’s performance positive.
Again, yeah, it was ETSU. But today wasn’t about the Bucs. Tennessee gained some much-needed confidence, while multiple individual players were rewarded for their strong week of practice.
That’s Pruitt’s process slowly taking shape.
It’s going to take time, but the more guys like Thompson — who Pruitt said played poorly against WVU but came back with “an edge” in practice this week — buy into the new staff’s competitive message then the quicker this thing might get turned around.
Because what do you know? The guys who practiced well this week played well, too.
“I’d rather be saying whoa than go,” Pruitt said.
There was plenty of newness Saturday, and for the first time in a year, it was mostly all positive.
*** Six different players scored their first touchdowns as a Vol
*** Guarantano connected on multiple passes over 50 yards Saturday, something he never did last season.
*** The Vols never had more than one interception in a game last season, either.
*** Tennessee scored two defensive touchdowns for the first time since 2014
We'll see how the Vols respond next week against UTEP, but a businesslike blowout where guys who outperformed their peers in practice took that play to the game is what Pruitt wanted to see Saturday. Now the challenge is to do it again and again.
"When we execute, we give ourselves a chance. When we don’t, we have no chance," he said.
“Everything is new for our guys. We get up 45 points, it’s new for them. How do you act? How do you play? The expectation shouldn’t change. To me the scoreboard is 0-0, why should the scoreboard affect the way you play? There’s lots of lessons for us to learn. We’re new in this program. We’ll learn them and keep chugging along.”