What's tougher to stomach than a five-game losing streak in college football?
A five-game skid exacerbated by open dates.
The Southeastern Conference's decision Monday to scrap this Saturday's Tennessee-Vanderbilt game in Nashville in order that the Commodores could play at Missouri has left the Volunteers with an even lengthier look into the rearview mirror for their most recent win. The Vols opened with consecutive victories over South Carolina and Missouri followed by consecutive defeats against Georgia and Kentucky, but the six weeks since then have provided a loss to Alabama, a scheduled open date, a loss at Arkansas, an unscheduled open date, a loss at Auburn and another unscheduled open date.
Tennessee's unexpected time off between the Arkansas and Auburn games was the result of Texas A&M having to postpone the Nov. 14 matchup inside Neyland Stadium due to coronavirus concerns.
"Obviously we're disappointed we couldn't play this week, but we understand the circumstances," Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt said Wednesday. "It gives everybody the opportunity to play 10 games this year, so we're just trying to take advantage of practice days and get some guys rested up. This is the third week out of five weeks where we've not played, and you want to create the right habits and get into a routine.
"During this pandemic, there has not been a lot of opportunity to do that."
Pruitt said he learned about the SEC's decision during Monday's practice, when the Vols were focusing on Vanderbilt. He added that Tennessee continued to prepare for the Commodores that day before quickly switching over to Florida, which is scheduled to invade Neyland Stadium on Dec. 5, a week from this Saturday.
Tennessee is then expected to host Texas A&M on Dec. 12 before traveling to Vanderbilt on Dec. 19.
When asked about the COVID-19 situation within his team, Pruitt said a player tested positive this week and that several are in quarantine, which has impacted most position groups.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.