Tennessee Football: 3 takeaways from frustrating loss to Pitt

This SEC-ACC matchup left Tennessee football wondering what comes next after suffering a 41-34 loss to the Pitt Panthers.

The Vols entered today’s game 1-0 after defeating Bowling Green in a weeknight game during week one of the college football season.

The Josh Heupel-led squad not only lost the game but lost junior quarterback Joe Milton to an apparent injury and did not see him during the second half of the game.

Here are three takeaways the Tennessee Volunteers will be thinking about post-game.

3. Home-field advantage was very real — for the first few minutes

There’s a big difference playing in front of 41,000 fans and playing in front of 102,000 fans — Pittsburgh found out first hand today by going into an electric and very loud Neyland Stadium.

Fans were fired up for the first non-conference home game in Knoxville since Nov. 2, 2019 (against UAB) and they played a huge role in helping Tennessee get off to a great start.

The Vols started the game by getting four straight stops, including a blocked punt that set Tennessee up for an easy 2-yard touchdown run by Jabari Small, which put the Vols up 7-0 after the extra point.

But that energy quickly waned after Pitt senior quarterback Kenny Pickett led the Panthers to score 27 points in the second quarter. Pickett was poised through the game, despite the tough environment, completing 24-of-36 passes for 285 yards. He finished the day with two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, and zero interceptions.