Tennessee Football: Updated game-by-game predictions for 2020
With a six-game winning streak to close out the 2019 season, can Tennessee football continue its momentum into 2020?
The 2019 Tennessee Volunteers are a story that consists of two very different teams.
The first part was their first seven games. Tennessee started 2-5 and on the brink of not even attaining bowl eligibility. The season opened with two losses out of the gate, both at home to Georgia State and BYU. Both were decent in 2019, but the Tennessee Volunteers should never lose to Georgia State. (Here’s a side note to really make Volunteer fans happy: the last time Tennessee beat Alabama, Georgia State football didn’t even exist.)
Tennessee’s only victories came against FCS Chattanooga and a Mississippi State team that finished the season with a losing record.
Between those victories, the Vols lost to Georgia and Florida by a combined score of 77-17. Tennessee looked helpless and couldn’t do anything on offense or stop anyone on defense. They also lost to Alabama in what was, in retrospect, somewhat of a turning point.
Even though Tennessee lost to Alabama by a score of 35-13, the Vols looked better than in previous weeks. The game was still within reach heading into the fourth quarter, something they couldn’t say about the meeting with Florida and Georgia.
That’s where the “good Vols” story kicks off. From that point, Tennessee won six straight games, their longest win streak since an 11 game streak between October 21, 2015, and October 1, 2016. Tennessee capped their season with a thriller over Indiana in the Gator Bowl to finish the season 8-5, their best record since 2016.
Tennessee returns 17 starters from that team that finished on fire. The defense should be good, but the offense has to take another step forward.
The entire offensive line returns, as does Jarrett Guarantano at quarterback.
The Vols do lose Juwan Jennings and Marquez Callaway at receiver, two of the best talents Tennessee has seen in a while. They’re going to be extremely difficult to replace, but Tennessee has the No. 13 ranked recruiting class in 2019 and No. 10 in 2020. Ramel Keyton, the No. 117 ranked prospect in 247Sports’ 2019 rankings should be look at as a guy to step up and take over where Jennings and Callaway left off. Malachi Wideman and Jalin Hyatt, both true freshmen, are also potential stars.
That’s reason for optimism heading into 2020. The schedule, on the other hand, is not.
Alabama. Georgia. Florida. Auburn. Texas A&M. At that rate, you may as well throw the Kansas City Chiefs on the schedule.
This is a team that could end up being much better than their record shows.