Almost But Not Quite For Tennessee

I used to laugh about how bad Tennessee had become the past few seasons (I know, that’s mean-spirited, I’m not proud of it), but after their crushing 10-9 loss against Florida on Saturday, I think I’ve found a soft spot in my heart for the Volunteers.

I feel sorry for Tennessee. I feel sorry for Butch Jones, the players, and the fans.

The program hasn’t been nearly the same since the Phillip Fulmer era, in which it had nine seasons of ten wins or more, including two SEC championships and even a national championship.

During that era, from the latter half of 1992 to 2008, Tennessee only had two losing seasons. Since Tennessee made the mistake of running Fulmer out of town, Tennessee has only had one winning season out of five, a 7-6 mark in Lane Kiffin’s one season in Knoxville.

And, well, we all know how that turned out.

Since 2009, they’ve gone 6-7 (they went .500 in the regular season, but lost their bowl game), followed by a string of four straight 5-7 seasons, with three different head coaches along the way.

They have been so close in so many games since Fulmer’s departure, and as the losses have piled up, the tension has been steadily mounting.

It finally seemed to boil over last Saturday, as the Vols blew a nine-point third quarter lead against an inconsistent Florida team, prompting a rather unpleasant reaction from the Tennessee student section.

Heartbreaking losses have been the story of Tennessee football the past six seasons.

Just last week, Tennessee narrowly lost to 13^th-ranked Georgia 35-32, after falling to the Bulldogs (ranked sixth at the time) 34-31 in overtime last year.

In 2012, they lost to Georgia, Mississippi State, South Carolina, and Missouri, all by ten points or less. They couldn’t pull off an upset of 12^th-ranked LSU in 2010, falling 16-14.

For years now, it’s been “almost but not enough” for Tennessee. In games that could swing a season’s momentum, the Vols always come up just short.

The last three seasons, the Vols got off to hot start against mediocre competition, and it looked like the situation in Knoxville was looking up. The players and coaches would get their confidence up, and the fans would start acting like Tennessee was ready for Atlanta again.

And then, the conference matchups started rolling in. Soon, the Vols found themselves spiraling out of control yet again, unable to get that signature win that could turn their season around.

In each of the past three seasons, Tennessee has had at least one four-game losing streak against SEC opponents. At least five of those matchups over three years were decided by ten points or less.

As of last week, their conference record since the end of the Fulmer era is now 12-31. Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Georgia are the only SEC teams Tennessee has beaten since 2008. Not exactly what you’d call conference powerhouses.

Tennessee just can’t seem to go toe-to-toe with the SEC’s best, a sad position for a program that used to be an annual contender.

The worst part is that it still won’t change, at least not this year. Tennessee is improved and close to contender caliber, but just not there yet.

Their past two games have proven that they have talent, but not enough experience, or a championship attitude. Late in the games they’ve lost, they played as if they were the inferior team.

Adopting the underdog role can be an effective tool at times, but at some point, you have come out onto the field believing that you can compete with any opponent, no matter you are or how highly ranked they are. Tennessee just doesn’t look like that team.

They make critical errors at the wrong times, catch incredibly unlucky breaks, and don’t bounce back with confidence that they can overcome those mistakes and bad breaks.

Butch Jones has them headed in the right direction. Truth be told, they were robbed last week against Florida. But that’s the thing about the SEC, there are no guaranteed wins.

Yes, the Gators should’ve been penalized for a delay of game, and possibly would’ve missed the field goal. But when the kick split the uprights, there were still six minutes left in the game. Plenty of time for Tennessee to drive down into at least field goal range.

All the talent in the world won’t matter if Tennessee can’t get out of its own way, and right now, they simply can’t.

This season has followed the exact same script as the three years before it. Win the first two nonconference games, drop a ton of SEC games.

For Tennessee to return to the ranks of the elite, they have start believing that they are a championship-caliber team at the end of the game, not just at the start of it.

I’ll say it again, I like the direction Butch Jones has the Vols headed in. He’s doing the best he can with a lot of young, mostly undeveloped talent, especially along his offensive and defensive lines.

Don’t be surprised to see a dramatic improvement out of Tennessee in the next couple of years, as long as the Vols give Jones enough time to work.

But as it stands now, Tennessee just isn’t there yet.