Jeremy Pruitt’s first SEC game at Tennessee couldn’t have gone much worse. The Volunteers recorded six giveaways, including four in the first half against rival Florida. The first half also included a Tennessee failed onside kick and a safety.

Florida battered Tennessee starting quarterback Jarrett Guarantano to the point where he had to leave the game. Pruitt was visibly upset and was seen yelling at his players at times during the night. At one point, he even kicked a whiteboard on the sidelines.

According to ESPN personality Paul Finebaum, Tennessee’s loss to Florida will do quite a bit of damage to the momentum Pruitt built during the summer and early September.

“I think it was a big blow,” Finebaum said during his guest appearance on WJOX 94.5 FM. “And you can blame it on anyone you want. Stand in line if you want to put all the blame on Butch Jones, or put all the blame on someone else, but ultimately this is Jeremy Pruitt’s program. He’s responsible for what happens.

“And that was just a colossal embarrassment from A to Z — from demeanor, from the way the team handled themselves. Even Jeremy Pruitt kicking the board; we can probably do without that. So, he has to do some soul searching now on how he picks up the pieces, because that (Florida) game really matters to Tennessee. They were just undressed and left naked on the 50 yard-line in Neyland Stadium, and that’s hard to recover from, especially when they have to go to Georgia next.”

It doesn’t get any easier for Pruitt and Tennessee. The Volunteers will visit No. 2 Georgia next and then after a bye week, they will take a trip to No. 10 Auburn before hosting No. 1 Alabama. Tennessee needs to pull off a big upset to avoid starting 0-4 in the SEC.