This isn’t the way Tennessee had hoped to come out and play in the first half of the program’s second season under Jeremy Pruitt.

While the offense has put up some numbers in the first half, the Volunteers have been sloppy on the field for much of the first half in the team’s season opener against Georgia State. Jim Chaney’s offense turned the ball over on the second play of the game, which led to Georgia State putting the first points of the game on the board, but settled down after that early mistake.

Jarrett Guarantano completed 12 of 20 passes for 124 yards and a touchdown, Ty Chandler has 48 rushing yards on six carries while Jauan Jennings has 75 yards receiving on five catches. While Chandler may be the team’s leading rusher at half, he has put the ball on the ground twice in the game — at least he recovered both fumbles.

Guarantano has been sharp to start the game, but he did throw a red-zone interception that was negated due to a defensive penalty.

With his team headed into the halftime break up 17-14, Pruitt offered his thoughts on why Tennessee has been largely unimpressive in the first half of his team’s season opener.

“Well, we got a lot of youth on the defensive side of the ball,” Pruitt said. “Offensively, we’ve turned the ball over, put the ball on the ground a couple of times, gave them a short field right there and they stuck it in. One drive, we get a penalty and we don’t execute on third down but you’ve got to give their guys credit, they are doing a nice job.”

When it comes to being more consistent on the offensive side of the ball, Pruitt pointed toward improved communication for his offense.

“We have to stay on blockers, we have to be consistent in our communication, so we are running the right routes, putting the ball where it needs to be,” Pruitt added.