KNOXVILLE — We’re now firmly in a period when reaching the College Football Playoff is the only acceptable outcome for any team touting itself as being an upper-tier program.
Anything less, regardless of the level of bowl game, is viewed as a failure.
So once the weight of Saturday night’s colossal collapse sank in, and the University of Tennessee came to the realization that it is no longer in the conversation for this season’s 12-team CFP, how players and coaches approach the next two weeks — an open date next Saturday, followed by a home game against nonconference opponent New Mexico State on Nov. 15 — could dictate the trajectory of the program’s future.
The Volunteers’ fall from CFP contender to teetering on being remembered as the biggest disappointment of Josh Heupel’s five-year UT tenure has taken just three weeks.
Previous head-scratchers — losses to South Carolina in 2022, Missouri in 2023 and Arkansas last fall — all happened on the road, but Saturday’s crash came in front of a roaring home crowd, with the added buzz of being a dark mode game with the Vols wearing black helmets, jerseys and pants.