More than a year has passed since Tennessee emptied out Tiger Stadium with a stunning 40-13 dismantling of LSU.
Hostile atmospheres haven’t been as kind to the Volunteers since as they prepare for this week’s journey to Alabama and its 100,077-seat Bryant-Denny Stadium.
In Tennessee’s last three games in which the Vols were disadvantaged from a crowd standpoint, they have suffered double-digit losses to Georgia and South Carolina last November and to Florida last month. The Vols were touchdown favorites against the Gators but committed pre-snap penalties on three consecutive offensive possessions as a quick 7-0 advantage turned into a 26-7 halftime deficit in the eventual 29-16 defeat.
“We just need to do our job at a high level,” Vols senior center Cooper Mays said this week in a news conference. “If you look at all the things that went wrong in that game, a lot of it was self-inflicted. We’ve got to go out there and be ready for the moment and have clean communication, even when it’s loud out there.”