What Tennessee fans should take away from Thursday night’s games

In case you haven’t heard, the college football season kicked off last night. And although Tennessee’s season won’t officially start until Sunday, Vol fans should’ve had a keen interest in last night’s matchups.

Of the four SEC teams featured in Thursday night’s national broadcast, three will face Tennessee this season and two are in the East division. South Carolina and Vanderbilt both disappointed in blowout losses. Ole Miss was victorious, but you wouldn’t know it by starting quarterback Bo Wallace’s stat line.

Tennessee was believed to have one of the hardest schedules in the country and fail to pose a serious threat in the SEC East. Now, the Vols may have much easier matchups than once believed. Prior to last night’s debacle, the finale against Vanderbilt seemed like the most likely win of the three games. There weren’t high expectations for the second most popular team in Nashville and Tennessee would likely be favored over the Commodores regardless. But still, Temple? 37-7? Derek Mason’s offense was abysmal and handed the Owls the victory. It will take the combination of both Derek Dooley and Jonathan Crompton returning for Tennessee to lose to the team that Vandy put on the field last night. If Butch Jones enters the finale in Nashville with a disappointing record and actually loses to that same Vanderbilt team, his hot seat will be boiling entering his third season.

Ole Miss is tricky to judge. While Bo Wallace threw three interceptions, his defense played outstanding. Boise State turned the ball over four times and were held to just 14 points. The Rebels look to have a premiere defense, but a turnover prone offense. Wallace was expected to make strides this season and must do so immediately. Even in victory, Ole Miss looked disappointing against a far inferior Boise State team.

South Carolina is the most interesting case for Vol fans. The Gamecocks were a heavy favorite to win the SEC East and seemed unbeatable at Williams-Brice Stadium during an 18-game winning streak. Both the streak and the high expectations were history after last night. Basically, Texas A&M fans forgot about missing Johnny Manziel after the first drive. Against South Carolina’s defense, Kenny Hill didn’t just look like he was Johnny Football, he looked like he was even better, breaking the single-game passing record for A&M previously held by Manziel. Was last night’s game an indication that Texas A&M is for real or is South Carolina just really bad?

Now here’s the most important factor to take away. Just because these teams may not have lived up to expectation in week one doesn’t mean they’re a cake walk for Tennessee. It doesn’t even mean the Vols should be favored. That is something that will be proven when Tennessee takes the field. This is a team coming off four consecutive losing seasons. Tennessee is a team that many do not expect to be a contender this season. The Vols have speed and talent, but most of it belongs to unproven, inexperienced players. However, Tennessee’s schedule may not be as difficult as once perceived. It Butch Jones and company see a progression form young talent, the Vols could realistically be a surprise team in the SEC East.

Jason Hall

A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky