KNOXVILLE - First-year Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Scott survived a three-game stretch that included games against the nation's third- and first-ranked defenses in Georgia and Alabama, respectively.
But even with Kentucky, which ranks 70th in the country in total defense up next for the Volunteers, Scott is not taking a sigh of relief.
"We've got to score a touchdown," he said Monday night. "How is there a sigh of relief? Not at all. Everybody is competitive. Everybody is fighting. It's football in October and November in the SEC. You better have your guard up. You better be ready to go each week."
Tennessee ranks 126th of 129 teams in the country in total offense, has not scored an offensive touchdown in more than a month and is 122nd nationally in red-zone offense. And those are just a few ways to calculate the group's ineptitude through seven games.
Despite it all, hope floats that the Vols (3-4, 0-4) are on the cusp of figuring out how to score touchdowns. They at least remember how that it is done.
"The football has to cross the goal line in order to do that," Scott told reporters.
It may be a penalty here, a missed block there or a bad read made under pressure by an inexperienced player. Whatever the ailment, Tennessee's players believe they are close to putting it all together.
"There are some things we've done to hurt ourselves," redshirt freshman quarterback Jarrett Guarantano said Tuesday. "But I think our confidence is still there. I think the offensive linemen still have trust in me and (running back) John Kelly and the receivers to make plays. John Kelly has trust in them. All around, I think we're in a good position and I think we're ready to explode these next couple of weeks and just play well."
The level of competition remains stiff for Tennessee's last five games, but it's a far cry from what Alabama and Georgia presented. In its last two games, Kentucky allowed 34 points to Missouri and 38 against Mississippi State. One of Mississippi State's scores in a 45-7 win over the Wildcats came on an interception returned for a touchdown.
Guarantano and senior tight end Ethan Wolf spoke with respect of the Wildcats' defense Tuesday, but Wolf agreed with Guarantano's assessment that the Tennessee offense could "explode" soon.
"I see evidence of that in games," Wolf said.
The biggest thing, he said, is for the offense to dial in on communication.
"We have the talent and the resources to be a very, very elite offense," Wolf said.
The team's mantra this week, he related, has been "what are you willing to sacrifice to win these last five games?"
The future of Tennessee's coaching staff could hang in the balance as Wolf's college career and those of several other seniors come to a close in what the Vols have said they are approaching as a five-game playoff.
"More than being successful at football, it comes down to loving to play it," Wolf said. "That's why I play the game. I don't play the game to make a bunch of money or get a scholarship or be on TV. That's not why I play. I don't think that's why anyone on our team plays. Just like anything you do in life that you love to do, if you're not good at it or you're failing at it, you're just going to keep coming back and trying harder and harder and harder to succeed at it. That's kind of the mentality that I take and I'm pretty sure a lot of people on our team take."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.