Tennessee Vols angered the rest of college football with controversial play, but opposing fans are wrong on this one

The Tennessee Vols created some controversy in the first half of their 71-0 win against Kent State on Saturday night.

With the Vols leading 30-0 in the first quarter, Tennessee surprised Kent State with an onside kick (which the Vols recovered).

Some opposing fan bases, unsurprisingly, ripped the Vols to shreds for kicking an onside kick in a blowout game.

There are pages and pages of tweets and reactions like those above.

And look, I get that the initial reaction in that situation is for fans to say that Tennessee is "classless".

But that's not what that onside kick was about. The Vols got a favorable look for an onside kick and they executed it. This was simply about Tennessee, a team that's competing for a spot in the College Football Playoff, practicing an important play that might be needed later in the season.

That's a play that the Vols don't often get a chance to practice against opponents. And in that situation, it wasn't going to matter if Tennessee didn't recover the onside kick, so it was the perfect situation to work on it, get some things on tape, and see where they need to improve.

It had nothing to do with Tennessee trying to run up the score. Josh Heupel and his staff have plenty of respect for Kent State. But they weren't going to give up an opportunity to work on different looks/plays just because they didn't want to score too many points. This is a team that's trying to improve week to week. And they aren't going to waste any opportunities.

So opposing fan bases can whine all they want about the Vols being "classless". That's fine. Maybe they've never been around truly elite competitors, so they don't understand what it means to be laser focused on getting better. That level of intensity isn't for everyone.

One thing's for sure, though, the Vols aren't shying away from that type of intensity.

Related: Lane Kiffin reveals bizarre decision by former Tennessee Vols AD John Currie