At first glance, you wouldn’t think Tennessee’s schedule has done it any favors. The Vols face the No. 8 overall toughest strength of schedule, with four of its five losses coming against ranked opponents. But Tennessee has actually benefited from its scheduling as it finds itself one win away from ending its three-year bowl drought.
The Vols went through a gauntlet of tough teams, including matchups against then-No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 12 Georgia, No. 3 Ole Miss and No. 4 Alabama from Sept. 27 to Oct. 25. Through it all, Tennessee survived with a 3-5 record with wins over Utah State, Arkansas State and FCS Chattanooga. The record was disappointing, but not improbable to overcome.
The Vols’ November schedule was a different story, playing three of their four games against unranked teams. Tennessee began the month with wins against South Carolina and Kentucky, evening its record to 5-5, before falling to No. 20 Missouri last week.
During that span, backup Joshua Dobbs emerged as a standout dual-threat quarterback. Dobbs has thrown for 985 yards, eight touchdowns and three interceptions on 85-of-136 passing, while rushing for 302 yards and four touchdown on 70 attempts.
The perfect storm has brought Tennessee to its final game, a season finale in Nashville against in-state rival Vanderbilt. The Vols are seeking vengeance after suffering back-to-back losses to the Commodores in their annual matchup.
But Vanderbilt is a far cry from the team that won nine games the past two seasons. Aside from a blowout win against Old Dominion, the Commodores have looked unimpressive, taking close margin victories in their only other wins against UMass and FCS Charleston Southern.
Tennessee enters Saturday’s game as a 17-point favorite and should secure bowl eligibility. It’s not to say the Vols have been spoiled by an easy schedule because that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Tennessee has one of the most difficult paths to the postseason in college football, aside from six SEC West teams and a handful of others. But the Vols have benefited from having winnable matchups at the end of their season and taking momentum into the postseason.
A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky
