Tennessee’s rushing performance against Charlotte was pathetic, that’s not up for debate after the Vols managed to gain only 20 yards on the ground on 26 attempts last weekend. The question is, can Tennessee do anything about it with three league games remaining and with the program’s bowl hopes on the line during that span?

Jeremy Pruitt was faced with many questions on that topic during his most recent media availability and he appeared to be as exasperated by the issues as any Tennessee fans out there frustrated by the team’s performance against the 49ers.

“We didn’t block very well. We basically got whipped at the point of attack,” Pruitt said of his team’s rushing woes on Saturday. “We had some mental errors that we haven’t been having for quite some time. We had free guys in the hole. That will get you before you get going.”

With the offensive line struggling so much, why does Tennessee stick with the run? It’s a fair question and something Pruitt was asked as a follow-up. According to the head Vol, he believes winning in the SEC is dependent on having a balanced offensive attack.

“It’s hard to win in this league if you can’t run the football, or any league. You have to be committed to it and we have to find a way to get it done,” Pruitt continued. “I know as a defensive coach, if you’re coaching D-linemen, if they’re going to pass it every snap those guys can turn loose and go put the offensive line at a disadvantage. You’ve got to be able to run the football to some degree.”

It would appear Tennessee’s offense, and particularly the offensive line, is what it is at this point of the season but some are wondering whether the offensive line can be shuffled to correct the issues. That’s something Pruitt was asked about, to which he provided the following response.

“Well to me, it’s like I said before, it’s how you produce,” he said. “If we’re not getting a whole lot of production, then why are we not getting production? We try to play the guys that give us the best chance to win and be productive and we’ll do that again this week.”

What will be the message for that unit moving forward? Simply improving on a day to day basis according to Tennessee’s coach.

“I think the message to our entire team is we want to go out there every day and improve every snap. Take it one snap at a time,” Pruitt said. “Our guys have worked really hard to do that, but again like I’ve said to the team, how you play on Saturdays is how you’re remembered. It’s not how you play on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. But, to play good on Saturdays you need to practice well and prepare well. We had too many mistakes Saturday, which went back to earlier in the year, guys blocking the wrong folks. It’s hard to have success when you do that.”