Pruitt hopes Saturday provides his Vols with a key lesson
For Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols, it's game on.
The SEC season is here, which means what this team has done the the last two weeks is officially irrelevant. Had the Vols turned their 512 yards of offense into more than 24 point and won like a week ago, it wouldn't have mattered. Had Tennessee won 13-10 it wouldn't have mattered.
The final results of the last two weeks are irrelevant because in the league where it just means more, it just got real for the Vols.
“I don't know that you have a choice in that,” Pruitt said when asked if his team was ready for SEC play.
“I would hope we are ready. If you came to Tennessee you came to play in the SEC. I would hope they are ready. Are we ready as a football team? When you turn the ball over three times, don't get any turnovers, make eight penalties, probably 10 if you count the one's they declined. It will be hard beating anybody playing in the SEC like that.”
That is why, beyond the score, Saturday could be the most beneficial thing for the Vols. Pruitt didn't predict how Saturday would go, but the head coach wasn't surprised by some of what he saw from his team in the 24-0 win.
“It's a good lesson for our players because you know what we didn't practice very well last week,” Pruitt said.
“I think on Wednesday when I met with you guys that you could tell I wasn't happy with the way we performed. Most places I have been, the way you practice is the way you play. You don't practice bad on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and play good on Saturday. It doesn't happen. We have to improve how we practice. We have to understand our expectations at practice. I think that will help us grow as football players and as a football team. And we better because now the real season starts.”
Pruitt isn't sure why his team coming off of last week's win wasn't dialed in on the practice field. Perhaps it's immaturity in handling a little success. Perhaps is simply toughness. What Pruitt does know is that it's not acceptable in his program.
“There's parts of practice that are ok, it's just sustaining that,” Pruitt said.
“It's a little hot out there or maybe I don't feel good. It's the third week of the season. Imagine how you are going to feel in four more weeks. But you have to go practice. The only way you are going to get better as a football team is to practice and prepare. Some of that is getting treatment, getting in the weight room, eating the right way, getting sleep. A lot of that goes into it. Our guys are learning our expectations. We have a lot of guys in our program trying to do it the right way. But you have to help them along the way.
“I don't know what they did the last time they won a game around here. I know that we are going to do. We aren't going to change. We are going to practice the same way every week regardless of what happened on Saturday. We have to go out there and improve because have a long way to go. We have guys who are willing. We just have to get them to go. That's why we are here. Am I disappointed in the guys? I'm not disappointed in them. I'm just telling you the truth.”
Coming into Saturday, Tennessee was one of three teams who didn't have a turnover. They turned it over twice against UTEP, including once at the 1-yard line. The Vols had nine penalties in their first two games. They had eight Saturday, including one that called back a touchdown. For a team who has a small margin for error, those mistakes must be avoided. No one plays a perfect game and Tennessee did a lot of good things on Saturday — they pitched a shutout and they rushed for 345 yards. They had two more plays of 50 yards or more surpassing last year's season total. They had seven tackles for loss including two sacks.
But Tennessee did a lot of things poorly as well. Enough bad things to prevent them from winning next week and beyond in the SEC.