By Chuck McCollum · The B.O.S.S.
Tennessee finally got a Saturday off. After eight straight games, that was probably the best thing on the schedule. The Vols went into the break at 6–2 overall and 3–2 in the SEC, with four games left and plenty still worth playing for.
The trouble with an open date is that it cannot give you back the one you just let get away. Columbia still happened. The opportunity Tennessee wasted there still belongs in the conversation when we judge this team.
We saw enough against Alabama to know what the Vols can be. We saw enough against South Carolina to know how quickly they can get in their own way. Those performances came from the same football team. November will tell us which habits hold up.
The first job is discipline. Tennessee does not need another lesson in what a flag can cost. A big play has very little value if the offense has to walk back and do it again. Getting lined up, communicating and completing the assignment ought to be the starting point by this stage of the season.
That is a team responsibility. It is too convenient to put everything on a young quarterback and ignore the work around him. My view of George MacIntyre has not changed: he showed enough in Columbia to deserve the next start. That is an opinion about what he earned, not an announcement from the coaching staff. Heupel had not named a starter in his Monday remarks.
There is still work for MacIntyre to do. There is work for Faizon Brandon, too. Whoever takes the snap needs an offense that gives a successful play a chance to stay successful. A quarterback competition cannot solve an illegal alignment or make a holding penalty disappear.
DeSean Bishop remains central to how I would like to see this offense finish the season. Give the running game a chance to establish something. Stay out of the situations that demand a rescue throw. Let a productive possession help the defense as well as the scoreboard.
Kentucky makes this a good time to find those answers. The Wildcats arrive 7–1 and 5–1 in the league. They had the same weekend off. Tennessee gets Neyland, but it does not get an opponent coming in tired from the previous Saturday.
The conference kept moving while the Vols watched. Georgia joined Kentucky at 5–1 in SEC play. Tennessee remains in the group with two league losses, with less room to waste another opportunity.
I am glad the Vols had a chance to catch their breath. Now I want to see a cleaner football team. We have already seen that Tennessee can play well enough to win a big game. The next step is carrying that standard from one Saturday to the next.