KNOXVILLE - Last week's performance wasn't that far off the perception of the Tennessee Volunteers' offense.
Statistically speaking, things were OK. Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano passed for more than 300 yards - 311, to be exact. But he missed on some throws, had two interceptions (although one was negated due to pass interference) and fumbled the ball after being sacked.
The rushing attack had a few moments: Ty Chandler's 31-yard touchdown run was opened by some solid holes created by the offensive line. The 54-yard pass from Guarantano to tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson was nice, too, as was a 34-yarder on third down from Guarantano to Jauan Jennings.
The Vols surpassed 400 yards of total offense - a number they reached only twice in 2018 - although only 93 of those yards came on the ground. And four Georgia State sacks totaling 26 yards in losses skewed that number.
The positives against the Panthers were not enough, though.
Not enough from Guarantano. Not enough from the running backs. Not enough from the offensive line or the receivers.
Not enough to win.
For their part, the Vols seem to have moved on from their opening-week showing, a shocking 38-30 loss. Brigham Young University visits Saturday night, and the Cougars are expected to pose more of a challenge than Georgia State was supposed to.
"I think the locker room is prepared," junior offensive lineman Ryan Johnson said Tuesday. "They're locked in. They're doing a good job of preparing. We had a good practice yesterday, and I think the guys are really locking in and focused on trying to do the best that they can game-planning and preparing for BYU.
"We've got a lot of guys that are stepping up, and some of the older guys, myself included, are trying to push the younger guys and the other guys on the team. We're trying to make sure that everybody does their part and does their best. We're trying to make sure that we get the best out of this team."
There are still questions regarding Guarantano, who entered the season expected to take a major step forward but looked pretty much like the same player from a year ago. He completed 65% of his passes against the Panthers but never really took any chances and missed on some throws. Coach Jeremy Pruitt noted earlier this week that the redshirt junior "left some plays out there."
"We want to be efficient," Pruitt said Wednesday. "The biggest mark of a quarterback is taking his team, whether you start on the 20-yard line, 50-yard line, wherever, and where does that position end up? That is what you get measured by. Sometimes it's by handing the ball off 10 times a possession, and sometimes it's throwing it 10 times a possession. Whatever it is, just being efficient and getting the offense to play at their best."
Guarantano has had his problems, for sure. But for the Vols to be successful this season, they're also going to need some consistency at running back, and they're going to have to find some level of consistency on the offensive line, where nine Vols played at least 15 snaps last weekend.
Even with the offensive and defensive struggles, the Vols led the Panthers 23-21 with 12:05 to play in the game. The ensuing turnovers by Guarantano - a fumble followed by an interception - didn't help from that point on, but the team's lack of urgency from the start also was a factor.
Jennings said that won't happen again.
"My message has been to come out each and every day to get better," the senior receiver said this week. "Don't come out there with no energy. We've got to have energy each and every day. That's just how we're going to do this thing from here on out. This team - they believe in me, and I believe in them. That's all that matters."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.