KNOXVILLE – It was one of those plainspoken, blatantly honest comments that second-year Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt so often delivers if you’re paying close enough attention.
“Unless you were here the first day I walked into this building (football complex),” Pruitt said after the Volunteers’ 28-10 victory over visiting Vanderbilt on Saturday evening, “I’m not sure you can understand how far we’ve come.”
It was probably not as far as many fans would have preferred they might have come, given that this was the Vols’ first win over the Commodores since 2015. When you’ve lost to Vandy for three straight Novembers, and you’re facing a pretty bad Commodores team at that, it certainly would have been fair for most Volniacs to at least wish for one of those 55-10 blowouts that Peyton Manning and Co. were so adept at orchestrating.
But a win is a win, especially on a soggy, stormy night that included two somewhat lengthy delays.
“It means everything to me because I love this state,” Tennessee offensive lineman Trey Smith said. “It’s nice to restore the balance.”