KNOXVILLE - Despite all of the frustrations due to lack of quality play this season on the football field and the growing negative attention off it, Tennessee looks at Saturday's game against third-ranked Georgia as an opportunity.
Coming off a bye week, second-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt has talked about the improvement of his team. It was just a year ago that he stood at a podium and got emotional after a 38-12 loss to these same Bulldogs, and he said early this week that he did so "because it was the first time I felt like we had competed like you are supposed to."
All he wants in this season's matchup - one that had the Bulldogs (4-0, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) favored by 24.5 points Friday afternoon - is to see that same level of competition. The 7 p.m. game will be televised by ESPN.
"We want to achieve the same thing we do every week," Pruitt said Wednesday. "We want to be at our best as a coaching staff, as players, anybody that touches our organization. There's very few opportunities when you talk about how much time you put into it. When you start in January in offseason conditioning and through spring practice and summer conditioning, fall camp, you are guaranteed 12 opportunities to show what you've done and how hard you've worked through the offseason.
"We have a fantastic challenge on Saturday. Our guys are looking forward to it. You want to play teams like this. Guys came to Tennessee to play in games like this. It's a great opportunity for our football team."
Obviously, the wins haven't come at a pace anybody in the program is pleased with. The Volunteers are 1-3 with an awful loss to Sun Belt member Georgia State and a shocking double-overtime loss to BYU, both at home. With several players recently entering the NCAA transfer portal as well as Friday's news of sophomore inside linebacker Jeremy Banks being dismissed from the program, they're thin at some important positions. They're dealing with a quarterback controversy that reportedly has true freshman Brian Maurer starting Saturday night.
But Tennessee players don't look at the matchup against the high-powered Bulldogs as an automatic loss.
They're looking at it, much like Pruitt, as an opportunity.
"That's why we came here," freshman inside linebacker Henry To'o To'o said early in the week. "We came here to change something for the better, to play for Coach Pruitt and his vision to be able to turn things around."
To'o To'o spent some time during the Vols' off week - which followed a 34-3 loss at Florida to open SEC play - back home in California and brought back a message from his parents.
"Never give up," he said. "That's what my family's really based on. Push through adversity. When something hits you hard, you keep going and never give up."
The last time Tennessee beat Georgia, it was on a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Josh Dobbs to then-sophomore and current fifth-year senior receiver Jauan Jennings on the last play of the 2016 game in Athens, Georgia. Since then the two programs have gone in opposite directions, with Georgia going 33-8, winning consecutive Southeastern Conference East Division championships and finishing as national runner-up for the 2017 season.
Since that win, Tennessee is 15-22.
"Getting a win would feel great," senior inside linebacker Daniel Bituli said. "It would also show how good we could have been at the start of the season, if we hadn't beat ourselves. At the end of the day, that's what it all comes down to. A win this week would definitely help secure that within the team."
It's another opportunity.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.