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SEC Sports
Can Tennessee Vols football coach Jeremy Pruitt last beyond October?
Tennessee falters under pressure again
www.knoxnews.com
The Tennessee Vols went more than 100 years without playing BYU in football. Their first meeting still came too soon for the Vols and second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt.
After Saturday night's 29-26 defeat in double overtime, the Vols are 0-2 and have yet to play a team from a Power 5 conference, much less an SEC opponent. And Pruitt is 5-9 as a head coach, which makes you wonder if he still will be a head coach after a four-game stretch against Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama.
The Vols seemingly had a victory locked up until BYU quarterback Zach Wilson teamed with wide receiver Micah Simon on a 64-yard pass play against a poorly positioned UT secondary. Jake Oldroyd then kicked a 33-yard field goal in the final seconds to tie the game before another stunned Neyland crowd.
The Cougars closed the deal in the second overtime when former third-string South Carolina running back Ty'Son Williams bulled through the middle of the UT defense on a 5-yard touchdown run.
With that game-winning score, it became apparent this Tennessee team is special. And not in a good way.
The defeat followed up a 38-30 loss in the season opener to 26-point underdog Georgia State, which was picked to finish last in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference.
You don’t become a national punch line by losing to BYU. You just make folks wonder how you can avoid a third consecutive losing season.
Chattanooga is waiting in the wings. No matter how inadequate the Vols have been in losing their first two games, surely they can prevail against an FCS opponent.
Or can they?
Many fans might have seen too much of UT’s ineptitude the first two weekends to care. How many will be willing to brave a noon kickoff against Chattanooga next Saturday at Neyland Stadium?
It's worth noting that the Vols didn't look nearly as incompetent against BYU as they did the previous week. They held the Cougars to 107 yards rushing after giving up 213 yards rushing to Georgia State.
UT also managed a more effective running game of its own. After struggling against the Panthers, it rushed for 242 yards against BYU.
Nonetheless, an 0-2 start against non-conference opponents will obscure whatever improvement Tennessee managed from Week 1 to Week 2. And Pruitt's slow start makes you wonder if he can survive the season.
Only two coaches in Tennessee history had a worse record than Pruitt after 14 games.
J.D. Depree (1905-06) was 4-8-2 after 14 games. Johnny Majors started out 4-9-1 three games into the 1978 season.
However, Majors was a former star player at Tennessee who returned to his alma mater after coaching Pittsburgh to the 1976 national championship. UT gave him time to turn the program upright, which he eventually did.
Pruitt, who is a first-time head coach, won’t have that much time. If the season continues the way it has started, Neyland crowds could dwindle to Conference USA size. And UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who hired Pruitt after the 2017 season, might have to make a change.
Hmmm. I wonder whom Tennessee’s former football coach would name as an interim coach.
Thanks you! I'll be here all week. Try the veal, and make sure to tip your waitress.
