Unless you’re a die hard Lee Greenwood fan, Tennessee’s 23-point win over UAB on a chilly Saturday night in Neyland Stadium won’t be remembered as anything special.

The Vols easily dispatched a paper-tiger 6-1 team, despite not even playing particularly well on one side of the ball.

And yet, that’s progress.

Saturday night was another recent snapshot of who the Vols have become in Year 2 under Jeremy Pruitt — and perhaps most importantly — how far removed they are from the same team that lost to Georgia State to open the season.

There would be no shocking upset special again in Neyland Stadium last night.

Tennessee looked focused from the outset, forcing a turnover on the game’s opening play and never looking back. Much of the second half was a homecoming snooze-fest.

It wasn’t pretty or particularly entertaining, but behind a stifling defense and an opportunistic offense, Tennessee methodically bulldozed the Blazers.

That’s what’s supposed to happen.

This remains a flawed team.

It’s current best option at quarterback is a one-handed veteran who head coach Jeremy Pruitt currently prefers to bring off the bench. It’s offensive line is banged up. The running game is still too inconsistent.

But even ho-hum victories have been hard to come by around here in recent years.

“Our confidence is rising,” freshman linebacker Henry To’oto’o said.

You can tell.

This is a team that believes its better than its 4-5 record. It’s seen the results translate from hard practices to the games. It’s hungry for a postseason opportunity and they have a real chance to make this a November to remember.

The Vols squandered a similar situation a year ago, but they’re “itching” to right those wrongs — both from recent and past history.

“We’re itching to get to a bowl game for sure,” tailback Eric Gray said.

Each week, I’ll rewatch the tape so you don’t have to. Here’s a skinny dozen of notes, analysis and final thoughts…

1. Rapid report card grades!

QB: C+

RB: B

WR: B-

TE: B

OL: D

DL: A

LB: A

DB: A+

ST: A

2. Five guys who I thought played well

A. CB Bryce Thompson

B. PK Brent Cimaglia

C. Darel Middleton

D. RB Ty Chandler

E. LB Henry To’oto’o

Thompson was terrific Saturday night, getting targeted six times and coming up with three picks — something he’d never done in peewee or high school.

He had more than twice as many return yardage (28) as receiving yards allowed (11). The sophomore is playing with a minor knee injury, but overall, he said he’s in much better shape than when he returned to the team for the UF game.

Following his career night against UAB, Thompson spoke to the reporters for the first time since his Aug. 24 charge of misdemeanor domestic assault in an alleged argument with his girlfriend. He was subsequently suspended and missed the first three games of the season. Exactly 10 weeks to the day of his arrest, Thompson was contrite and appreciative of his second chance, and despite the efforts of a Tennessee official to end interviews, he seemed willing to address what he’d learned.

“I learned how to handle situations differently and don’t take anything for granted.”

“I feel like really with anybody, they would be thankful for having this opportunity right now,” Thompson said. “I am extremely grateful. I couldn’t thank the University of Tennessee and coach Pruitt enough.”

Thompson was accused of threatening his girlfriend, but he denied making such threats, including witnesses alleging that the cornerback yelled he would “shoot up the school.” Charges were ultimately dismissed and Thompson was allowed back on the team in late September — something he admitted Saturday night he wasn’t sure would happen following his arrest.

“At times, those three games away, not being around my team really for three weeks, it did hurt,” he said.

“It was definitely a learning lesson. I am just glad to be back on the team with my family honestly.”

Thompson looked a lot like the 2018 Freshman All-American that caught fans' attention for the right reasons on Saturday night. His first interception was a great instinctive play, pealing off his man and reading the quarterback’s eyes.

On his second pick, he was aided by a great hesi-rush move by freshman Quavaris Crouch, who pressured Tyler Johnston into a poor throw.

Thompson’s third interception was also assisted by a freshman linebacker, as Henry To’oto’o, who had perhaps his best game of the season Saturday, tipped the pass and celebrated with the cornerback on the sideline, telling Thompson, “I did that for you!”

What was most interesting about Thompson’s final hat-trick pick was his positioning on the field. The sophomore was lined up in the ‘money’ spot in Tennessee’s dime defense — something Pruitt wanted to do with Thompson before he was suspended.

The emergence of No. 2 corner Kenneth George and freshman safety Jaylen McCollough finally allowed Pruitt the opportunity to put his best secondary playmaker in a prime position to force turnovers, as Thompson lined up inside on multiple plays Saturday.

“There are a lot of balls that go to the fourth receiver on the other team on third down,” Pruitt said.

“You’ve got two guys outside, and you’ve got the guy that your star is on and our money guy, two and three, lots of balls go to them, so Bryce made a good play and undercut the guy.”

3. As for others who deserve the spotlight after Saturday, junior college transfer Darel Middleton continues to come on. He was solid in both pass and run defense, and his strip-fumble was textbook. Fellow transfer Aubrey Solomon deserves a shoutout for his recent steady play up front, too.

Ty Chandler ran hard against a solid UAB front. He didn’t make many guys miss, but he was assertive in the hole and fell forward. He had four runs over 10 yards and was good at finding cut-back lanes with an OL struggling with assignments on a down-to-down basis.

Notably, Chandler was also excellent in pass protection — something that hasn’t always been the case for the junior.

He straight stoned a linebacker in a blitz pickup in the third quarter, allowing the Vols to convert a third down.

Three weeks ago, it looked like Tim Jordan had become the go-to tailback but in wins over South Carolina and UAB, it’s been the Ty Chandler Show.

Finally, Brent Cimaglia is making his case to be Tennessee’s lone rep on the All-SEC First-Team. The junior kicker was 3-of-3 Saturday, including a 53-yarder. He’s now 15 of 17 on the season, including six field goals over 40 yards.

Also, an assist goes to holder Joe Doyle, who saved a poor snap on Cimaglia’s first field goal.

4. Five guys who’d like Saturday back

A. QB JT Shrout

B. OTs Wanya Morris + Marcus Tatum

C. C Brandon Kennedy

D. SEC officiating

E. The ESPNU analyst who kept mispronouncing names including combining Jarrett Guarananto into one one catchphrase — Jerrantanoh — like he was Brangelina

Shrout didn’t have many opportunities Saturday, but it’s clear that despite his breakout game against South Carolina, the staff doesn’t have a ton of faith in the redshirt freshman. It took one poor decision in the red zone to get yanked. Shrout was inserted back into the game to start the second half and nearly threw an interception when he never saw the safety over-top.

Once again, he was taken out of the game. Saturday was a missed opportunity for Shrout to truly insert himself into the quarterback equation, but with Brian Maurer likely to return next weekend, I think his short window has closed.

Tennessee’s entire offensive line had a tough day. UAB’s speed off the edge gave Morris and Tatum problems. Morris, who was yanked at one point, had a game he’d like to soon flush. He allowed two sacks and another four hurries. He also was a non-factor many times in the run game, simply not blocking anyone on more than one occasion.

Meanwhile, mammoth UAB nose tackle Tony Fair (listed at 6-3, 340 but could easily pass for 365+) gave Brandon Kennedy fits. The reigning SEC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week had trouble with Fair’s power and quickness — both in the run and pass game. Fair finished with two TFLs, three hurries and six tackles.

On 33 designed runs Saturday, 16 went for one yard or less. The Vols have been much better at eliminating negative plays this season, but they reverted to their 2018 form against UAB.

5. SEC’s officiating in a nutshell.

Overall, Herbert Owens crew was fine Saturday night, but this play is a Grade A example how no one has a clue what qualifies as targeting. They didn’t even review this play even though Garrett Marino launches himself at Trey Smith!

6. Tennessee's defense was downright dominant.

It helped that UAB had horrific quarterback play, but from UT's players to the scheme, the Vols were dialed in Saturday night. They forced turnovers and found ways to get pressure with various packages, including a faux-bear front look and tight a fire-corner blitz.

7. On the flip side, Tennessee’s red zone woes continue.

The Vols rank last in the SEC — and 126th nationally ahead of only Rutgers and Northwestern among Power 5 teams — in red zone touchdown efficiency (43.8%).

Guarantano threw another end zone interception and the Vols were forced to settle for a field goal following Thompson’s first INT. Jauan Jennings scored a short touchdown in the Wildcat and I do wonder if that will be an avenue Jim Chaney explores more inside the 10 yard line the rest of the season.

The runs with Quavaris Crouch didn’t work, although he missed a hole on one opportunity. Chaney even tried to get a bit gimmicky with the Carlin Fils-Aime touch. But Jennings is tough to tackle and he hits those runs with assertiveness. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Vols lean more on that in the coming weeks, and possibly call a pop-pass from Jennings, too.

8. After all the downfield shots against South Carolina, Tennessee couldn’t get its vertical passing game going vs. UAB.

The Blazers did a nice job corralling Marquez Callaway and Josh Palmer, who both struggled to get open at times. Jennings caught several crossing patters but found little room to operate in the middle of the field. Guarantano missed him badly on a wheel route, and the redshirt junior was also late on another deep shot to Palmer in the second half.

A week after completing seven passes over 20 yards, Guarantano and Shrout combined to go 0-7 on Saturday. In fact, of the team’s 16 completions — 13 were thrown less than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.

Chaney did dial up a great shot play in the second quarter, as a funky bunch formation confused UAB at the snap. With a TE clear out route, Princeton Fant runs straight past the corner but Guarantano bobbles the snap and then immediately gets swallowed up by pressure.

9. With 5-star tight end prospect Darnell Washington in the house, Chaney made sure to dust off some of his favorite tight end plays.

Dominick Wood-Anderson had three catches for the first time since the opener against Georgia State. Austin Pope caught a pass. Andrew Craig caught a pass. So did Jacob Warren. In all, the tight ends were targeted seven times.

Tennessee’s aggressiveness throwing to the tight ends seemed to catch UAB off guard — so much so that a linebacker completely blew a coverage in the red zone turning his attention to Austin Pope and letting Eric Gray run free on a wheel route out of the backfield.

10. A couple final stray observations...

— Tennessee scored the first six points on games on two drives that combined for -4 yards yards. That’s impressive and hard to do.

— With Guarantano’s hand, the Vols were forced to change their typical snap operation. It wasn’t an issue Saturday, but as Pruitt noted on his postgame show, it could be a potential problem at Kentucky next weekend.

“We had to operate on voice command because he couldn’t clap. It didn’t cause any issues, but it possibly could on the road.”

— I thought Tennessee’s tackling was excellent. Before garbage time, the only missed tackle I noted was by Daniel Biutil.

— Only one defensive player played all 55 snaps Saturday: Freshman safety Jaylen McCollough, who was solid but did badly misjudge a potential arm-punt for an interception. Pruitt joked that he told ‘Tank’ he could’ve caught the ball with his loafers on.

— Tennessee had zero penalties through three quarters, and amazingly, its first two penalties went for zero yards because they both came inside the 1-yard line.

11. The last word: My single favorite play from Saturday night. Celebrate young fella!