KNOXVILLE – The reasons may be different, but the objective remains the same.
Tennessee enters the final two games of the regular season not needing a win or two for bowl eligibility for the first time in a while, but the Volunteers are hardly content after picking up their sixth victory of the season Saturday against North Texas.
Very winnable Southeastern Conference games against Missouri and Vanderbilt remain, and victories in Columbia on Saturday and in the home finale against the Commodores on Nov. 28 would give Tennessee eight regular-season wins, the program’s most since 2007.
Vols senior left tackle Kyler Kerbyson called the two remaining scheduled games “huge” after Saturday’s 24-0 homecoming win.
“Vandy is our rival, so we always want to win that game no matter what. And Missouri has had our number the past few years. We want to be able to get that monkey off our back,” he said.
“We’re not trying to play these games to get in a better bowl. We’re trying to play these games to win. We don’t want to lose. That’s the thing. We’re not really concentrated on what bowl we go to. We’re concentrated on Missouri now, and that’s it.”
Tennessee is on its first in-season three-game winning streak since 2010, when the Vols rallied from 2-6 with wins against Memphis, Ole Miss, Kentucky and Vanderbilt to earn a Music City Bowl bid in coach Derek Dooley’s first season.
The program’s last five-game winning streak was in 2007, which also was the last time Tennessee finished with a winning record in conference play.
“It’s good to be bowl eligible,” coach Butch Jones said. “These kids have worked so hard, and knowing that we’re going to a bowl game, I’m proud of them. We have two obviously very, very big games coming up. The more you win, the more that’s at stake.”
There already is plenty at stake for Missouri, which received a new source of inspiration Friday when 15th-year head coach Gary Pinkel announced he would retire after the season for health reasons. The Tigers, who had lost four straight games, beat BYU 20-16 Saturday night to end the Cougars’ winning streak at five.
Suddenly, the Vols are facing a team wanting to send its beloved coach out a winner in his final home game.
With a home win against Texas A&M this week, Vanderbilt could be a victory away from a bowl bid in its finale in Knoxville.
“We want to win out,” Vols defensive end Derek Barnett said. “Well, we want to beat Missouri, that’s our next game. That’s what we want to do, then go on from there.”
The Vols will be favored in those final two games, but neither will be easy, particularly if Tennessee doesn’t play better on offense than it has in the past seven quarters.
The Tigers and Commodores are third and fifth in the SEC in total defense, and neither team is allowing more than 17 points per game this season.
Of course, the two teams are in the bottom three nationally in scoring, with both averaging a little more than 15 points per game, so Tennessee’s defense should be able to limit those offenses and perhaps create turnovers to help what’s become a scuffling Vols offense the past two games.
“We’re going back into SEC play and going back on the road,” freshman linebacker Darrin Kirkland said, “so we have to find opportunities to generate momentum.”
Tennessee hasn’t beaten Missouri since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012.
The Vols, second in the SEC and 29th nationally in rushing this season, ran for 94 yards and allowed two sacks against Missouri in a 31-3 loss in their last visit, and the Tigers won 29-21 in Knoxville last season by holding Tennessee to 53 rushing yards and sacking quarterback Josh Dobbs six times.
While bowl eligibility is in the bag, there’s still pressure on Tennessee to win its remaining games.
“I just feel like I left this place better than when I got here, and that’s really what I was trying to do the whole time,” Kerbyson said. “And I think I can speak for every senior that’s still here, is that that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to bring Tennessee to where it’s supposed to be.
“That’s why we’ve had these big recruiting classes these past two years, is because those guys want to do the exact same thing. They want to have Tennessee be back to the tradition of winning. We’re really working hard toward that, and I’m very happy with this whole team, of being able to get to six wins before a last game nail-biter. It feels good to have that clinched.”
For the Vols, two more wins would feel even better.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.