The Tennessee Vols missed out on a special season in 2022, and potentially on a special season in 2023 as well, largely due to one big flaw.
For whatever reason, Tennessee struggled at times on the road. And those struggles led to losses that prevented the Vols from making a playoff run.
In 2022, the Vols lost key road games to the Georgia Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks.
A road loss to Georgia, the eventual national champs in 2022, can certainly be excused. But the Vols made life hard on themselves in that game by committing eight pre-snap penalties, due in large part to the crowd noise at Sanford Stadium.
The loss to South Carolina in 2022 wasn't quite as excusable. The Gamecocks were coming off a blowout loss to a not-very-good Florida team and they expectation was that Tennessee would win big.
Instead, the Vols were blown out by South Carolina, losing 63-38. That loss ended Tennessee's chances of reaching the playoff.
Last season, the Vols had similar issues on the road, struggling against Florida, Alabama, and Missouri (all losses). The offense couldn't find its rhythm in those games (outside of the first half against Bama) with the loud crowd noise seemingly playing a factor.
Those struggles obviously fall on the entire team and the coaching staff.
Entering the 2024 season, the Vols will need to win a couple of tough games on the road if they're going to reach the College Football Playoff. An early road game against Oklahoma is essentially a must-win. And Tennessee's matchup against Arkansas in Fayetteville on October 5 is absolutely a must-win.
The Vols also return to Athens in November to take on the Bulldogs. That's probably not a must-win for Tennessee, but if they want to have a chance at earning a bye in the playoff, they'll need to find a way to get a win between the hedges.
In order to win a national championship, you gotta win big road games.
Fortunately for the Vols, redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava is a big fan of playing on the road. In fact, he said on Tuesday that he prefers road games over home games.
"I definitely love road games more than home games," said Iamaleava on Tuesday ahead of the start of fall camp. "I don't want to upset our Neyland fans -- I love playing in Neyland Stadium. But I feel like away games, I just feel like all the odds are against you. Gives you a little more of that feeling that you get. You could say focus, I think there's plenty of other words you can use. But going on the road is something I've always loved to do since a young age."
That's an elite mindset from Iamaleava. That's the type of mentality that wins championships. Iamaleava is going into those road games with a chip on his shoulder. He wants the hostile environment. In fact, it sounds like he thrives in those types of environments (and he has since he was a young player).
Obviously, the Vols need their entire roster to share that mindset if they're going to find success on the road this fall. But it's hard to see the entire team not sharing that mindset when the starting quarterback is going into road games with that type of mentality. It's something that should permeate the rest of the team. And even though it's not tangible, it will absolutely make Tennessee a better team in 2024.
Related: Tennessee OC Joey Halzle makes honest admission about Vols' 2023 offense that should make fans feel better about 2024
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