There are multiple benefits to winning the first three games of a college football season by the combined score of 191-13.
Tennessee rocketing out of the gate this season at the expense of UTC, North Carolina State and Kent State has resulted in a lot of second-half resting for prominent players such as redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava and junior edge rusher James Pearce Jr. It also has provided a multitude of snaps and minutes for those who are in their first season with the Volunteers.
“We’ve been able to play a lot more guys than we have at any point, and a big part of that is our roster,” Vols coach Josh Heupel said after Saturday night’s 71-0 thrashing of the Golden Flashes. “With each opportunity that every young player gets, they are only going to grow that much more quickly with those experiences. Practice is awesome and it matters, but those game day experiences matter a lot, too, in terms of understanding what it looks like, what it feels like and where you have to continue to grow.
“That has been really important to us here in the first three weeks. The depth of our roster and the experiences that they have is really important as you get into conference play.”
Southeastern Conference play for No. 6 Tennessee, of course, begins Saturday night (7:30 on ABC) with a trip to No. 15 Oklahoma in the first SEC game for the Sooners against a league foe.