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Tennessee football must hit panic button after home loss to Georgia State

By Connor Muldowney

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Cornelius McCoy #83 of the Georgia State Panthers runs into the end-zone to tie the game while defended by Shawn Shamburger #12 and Warren Burrell #4 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter of the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE - AUGUST 31: Cornelius McCoy #83 of the Georgia State Panthers runs into the end-zone to tie the game while defended by Shawn Shamburger #12 and Warren Burrell #4 of the Tennessee Volunteers during the second quarter of the season opener at Neyland Stadium on August 31, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Silas Walker/Getty Images) /
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Losing to Georgia State was the least ideal way for Tennessee football to start a “promising” campaign. Is it already time to panic in Knoxville?

Yes, it’s only Week 1 so any result has to be taken with a grain of salt. There are still three months left in the season, so even if a team falls short in the opening weekend, it can be turned around in the following weeks. But there’s a different feel after Tennessee’s loss to Georgia State.

Georgia State was up by five points with about five minutes left and the Panthers tacked on a touchdown to push the lead to two scores.

And then the Rocky Top faithful headed for the exits in droves.

The stands were emptying, assuming a loss by Jeremy Pruitt’s Volunteers against the Panthers of Georgia State, and it was ugly. You could hear boo birds in the crowd and the Vols showed no signs of life. In fact, the ensuing drive after the Georgia State score by the Volunteers was only two plays and one was a sack and the other an interception.

Neyland Stadium was a ghost town in the final few minutes and the fans were stunned as they headed back to their cars.

Is it already time to hit the panic button? For a program that seemed to be looking up after a five-win season a year ago, yes. The Volunteers can’t afford to get pushed around at home by Georgia State, a team picked to finish near the bottom of the Sun Belt this season after going 2-10 last year.

If Tennessee looks this bad against Georgia State on defense and in the trenches, just imagine how ugly it’ll be against SEC foes.

No, this isn’t the same as the LSU loss to Troy, this one was much more lifeless from the home team. This is panic-worthy because, well, we don’t know anything about this Tennessee team other than the fact that they can’t even beat Georgia State at home.

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Right now, there are no expectations for Tennessee and Pruitt will be facing all the criticism in the world for this loss. Turning things around and getting players to buy in after this crushing defeat will be incredibly tough.

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