Despite Tennessee’s offensive struggles that have emerged in conference play this season, one anonymous coach still believes that Josh Heupel’s group has enough talent and pieces to make the playoffs and even compete for a National Championship.
While that might not be the most common prediction amongst the Tennessee fanbase right now, the coach who said that has played against Tennessee and has seen the Vols up close this year.
While speaking to The Athletic’s David Ubben on the understanding of anonymity, the opposing coach complimented Tennessee and acknowledged that something good could come from the Vols’ unexpected loss to Arkansas on Oct. 5.
“They’re probably one of the best football teams I’ve seen in the last 10 years, honestly,” the coach said to Ubben of The Athletic. “This is a team that can win the national championship. They have enough pieces. I was surprised they lost to Arkansas, but it’s hard to go undefeated. It might be the best thing that ever happened to them.”
More from RTI: The Two Unique Connections Between Tennessee, Alabama Coaching Staffs
The last line is interesting because it’s one that’s commonly used in other sports such as the NFL but hasn’t been that frequent in college football during the four-team playoff era. The last six national champions (Michigan, Georgia x2, Alabama, LSU, Clemson) all produced an undefeated regular season en route to their national championship because the margin for error was that small. With the expanded 12-team playoffs, though, you’re looking at more wiggle room to get in the door.
Tennessee’s loss to Arkansas put them behind the eight-ball, yes, but it didn’t eliminate the Vols. The loss just raises the importance of going one-loss or better to finish out the regular season to have a shot at the playoffs.
The hope for the Tennessee fanbase and inside the Vols’ program is that Tennessee’s early-season loss is motivating enough to finish out the regular season strong. Alabama, Tennessee’s opponent this Saturday in Knoxville, is also hoping for the same after a rough loss to Vanderbilt two weeks ago.
A win on Saturday bumps Tennessee’s playoff chances to 70 percent, according to ESPN analytics. A loss to the Crimson Tide, though, would drop Tennessee’s chances to just 24 percent as the Vols mount two losses before even facing Georgia in Athens this November.
It’s safe to say that while some still believe that Tennessee can make the uphill climb to reach the playoffs this year, the Vols can’t afford to take any weeks off between now and then. An early-season loss to Arkansas and a mid-season scare against Florida aren’t easy to go through in the moment, but the hope for Tennessee is that the Vols can lock in for the second half of the season with several home games left on the table.
No. 11 Tennessee will host No. 7 Alabama on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET in Knoxville.
For more great quotes from anonymous coaches about Tennessee and Alabama before the Third Saturday in October rivalry, check out David Ubben’s well-researched article for The Athletic here.
