KNOXVILLE — If you’re a Tennessee football fan this week, you want answers. You want someone, anyone in orange to tell you the worst is over. You want to know that those three stomach-churning, heartbreaking, loyalty-testing (at least where UT coach “Botch” Jones is concerned) losses to Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas will become the motivational fertilizer for three huge victories against Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky.
You want to know that Team 119 not only hurts as much as you do, but that it now possesses the knowledge and experience to prevent such setbacks in the future.
You want to know, as Jones said early in Monday’s weekly presser: “This is a resilient group, a prideful group. It’s making us better.”
The Volunteers didn’t look better against Arkansas. After appearing much the superior team for large chunks of those ultimate losses to the Sooners and the Gators, Tennessee often was outplayed and outcoached against a Razorbacks team that had yet to win an SEC road game in Boss Hog Bret Bielema’s two-plus seasons in the Ozarks.
And that 24-20 loss from a 14-0 lead certainly has both steamed and stumped the Big Orange Nation. But at least it was another close loss, the Vols’ three defeats coming by a total of 12 points.