Overall
Daniel: Maybe this isn’t quite a signature win. South Carolina has major flaws this year and will now be fighting for bowl eligibility. Still, the Vols got the job done, even when the odds were incredibly thin, and any SEC road win is a quality one for the Vols at this point in their rebuilding process. They’ve been resilient all year and while moral victories haven’t sat well with many fans, virtually everybody now has to acknowledge that this team has a different level of toughness and fight than some recent squads. A bowl game has been the goal all season and the Vols took a huge step in that direction on Saturday. There’s still work to do, but this win swings the odds in their favor. The defense has some significant issues to fix. The offense is rejuvenated and now the challenge is to keep their keep playmakers healthy and keep the momentum going. Certainly not the cleanest performance for UT, but a very nice win for the Vols. Grade: B+
Houston: It wasn’t always pretty, but this team found a way to win a game that was all but lost over halfway through the final quarter. If – as Butch Jones says – all that matters is wins and losses, then this was an outstanding win for a program that was in desperate need of a big one. A win like this has the opportunity to springboard this young team into a strong finish and is the perfect game to have heading into a bye week. The Vols will now have the chance to get healthy, prepare for Kentucky and practice for two weeks as winners….and that is always better than the alternative. A win, on the road, in the SEC is not something this team should take lightly. Grade: A
Reed: This grade won’t average out and it shouldn’t. Tennessee picked up a huge win. It’s that simple. Their bowl prospect look brighter and brighter and Tennessee heads into the bye week with momentum. They hadn’t knocked off a non Vandy or Kentucky SEC team on the road since 2007. This was a huge win for this team and the trajectory of the program. The fans needed this. The players needed this. The coaches needed this. And all of them delivered in Columbia. Grade: A
Average Grade: A
