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Wiedmer: Vols suddenly look like the future of the SEC East

Butch Jones gestures that he wants to speak with the referee. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.
Butch Jones gestures that he wants to speak with the referee. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015. Butch Jones gestures that he wants to speak with the referee. The Vanderbilt Commodores visited the Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action November 28, 2015.

By Mark Wiedmer 5 min read

KNOXVILLE – Three weeks ago, Vanderbilt’s football team visited Florida’s famed Swamp and exited with a narrow 9-7 loss. On Saturday afternoon the Commodores visited Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium and left on the short end of a 53-28 thumping.

Check the pairing for this coming weekend’s Southeastern Conference championship game and you’ll notice that Florida will represent the SEC East against the SEC West’s best, Alabama. And that’s probably as it should be, given the Gators’ 28-27 win over the Vols in late September.

But any common-sense measurement of the SEC East’s best team on this 29th day of November almost assuredly points to the Big Orange, to its five straight wins by an average of 18.9 points, to an offense averaging 34.3 ppg.

“They’re a great team with a great game plan,” said Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason.

“I believe that we’re one of the best teams in the country, and I believe our players believe that also,” third-year Tennessee coach Butch Jones said during his postgame comments. “This football team has been mentally ready to play for 12 games, and that’s very difficult to do.”