The Tennessee Vols left Neyland Stadium with a 23-17 win against the Florida Gators on Saturday night. It was the Vols' second win against Florida in their last three meetings.
It's the first time Tennessee has won two out of three against Florida since winning three out of four against the Gators from 2001 to 2004. It's also the first time that Tennessee has won two home games in a row against Florida since 1990 and 1992.
Despite the win against Florida—a rarity over the last two decades—there were plenty of complaints from Vols fans about how the game was won.
Tennessee committed too many penalties, the passing game wasn't efficient, and they didn't move the ball well at times. But they didn't lose the game. The Vols dug deep, they never stopped competing, and they found a way to earn a win against the Gators in an intense rivalry game.
If Tennessee would've played better against Arkansas last week, then fans probably wouldn't be as upset about the way the Vols played against Florida. But the lackluster performance against Arkansas seems to be clouding how fans feel about the win against the Gators.
And that shouldn't be the case.
This season hasn't been perfect for Tennessee -- just like it hasn't been perfect for Georgia, Alabama, or Ole Miss. It's been a weird year. The SEC is as competitive as ever. The 2024 season essentially boils down to "survive and advance".
For some reason, tough, some Vols fans are in panic mode because the offense didn't look good against Florida. Folks in the media are slamming Tennessee for how they won the game against the Gators. If you didn't know any better, you would think the Vols were blown out on Saturday night.
Everyone needs to take a step back and appreciate what's happening under Josh Heupel at Tennessee.
The UT program was a disaster before he took over. It was a punch line. Before Heupel's arrival, Tennessee cycled through coaches at a breakneck pace. They lost to Florida every year (except for that memorable comeback in 2016). Alabama owned them. And in general, Tennessee seemed to lose every "big game".
In three and a half seasons under Heupel, the program has won 32 games, earned two wins against Florida, finally beat Alabama, won a game in Baton Rouge, destroyed Clemson in the Orange Bowl, won a massive game on the road against Oklahoma, reached No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings (in 2022), and they've spent a considerable amount of time ranked inside the top 10.
Tennessee has become a top destination for recruits, the vibes in Knoxville have been immaculate, the stadium has undergone much-needed renovations, and the game day experience has improved.
Has it been perfect under Heupel? Of course not. The loss to South Carolina in 2022 remains a sore spot. The loss to Alabama in 2023 should've never happened. And losing to Arkansas coming off a bye is still hard to explain.
But guess what? Nearly every college football program in the nation has gone through some adversity during that same time frame. Alabama lost to Vanderbilt! Dabo Swinney, a national championship-winning coach, gets into it with his own fan base at Clemson on an annual basis. Ohio State can't get over the hump under Ryan Day. Ole Miss was penciled in as a playoff team and they already have two losses in mid October.
Heupel has plenty he needs to fix. And he'll be the first to tell you that. But Tennessee fans need to appreciate what's happening on Rocky Top. They need to appreciate Heupel and understand that tough losses are unavoidable. Undefeated seasons are becoming increasingly rare. Upset losses, however, are becoming more common.
The last thing Vols fans want to do is create an atmosphere where every loss generates hot seat talk. That doesn't help anything. In fact, all it does is increase the chances that fans will eventually run Heupel off. And that's the last thing anyone in East Tennessee should want.
Tennessee is in a good place right now. It's not perfect, but it's better than it's been in a long time. And Vols fans know as well as anyone that it can go right back to being bad at the snap of a finger. Tennessee has the right guy in charge in Heupel. A rough stretch that includes wins over Oklahoma and Florida and a loss to Arkansas doesn't change that. If anything, it shows that Heupel, his staff, and his players are incredibly resilient.
Related: Tennessee Vols break out iconic locker room celebration after win against the Florida Gators
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