JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There isn’t much that makes sense about Tennessee’s 23-22 win over Indiana on Thursday night in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl.
But then there wasn’t much that did make sense about the Volunteers’ 2019 season.
They lost consecutive home games they shouldn’t have to start the schedule as a lackluster opening performance against Georgia State was followed by a 29-26 overtime loss to BYU, a game Tennessee led 16-13 with less than 30 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
The Vols went through changes at quarterback. Four players started at that position during the season before redshirt junior Jarrett Guarantano, the starter at the beginning who lost his job midway through, reassumed the role late in the schedule.
The Tennessee defense, which struggled with alignment as well as generating backfield pressure early in the season, seemed to figure things out midway through and became a dominant unit.