How Texas is making us hypercritical of Tennessee football’s flaws

Tennessee football is now on a collision course with Arch Manning and No. 1 Texas to plunge into the most prolonged SEC schedule in program history – that is, as soon as it dispatches of Kennesaw State.

It feels like everything the 14th-ranked Vols (2-0) do in nonconference play is viewed through the prism of whether it’s good enough to beat Texas, Alabama, LSU and others.

Quarterback Faizon Brandon has been good, earning SEC Freshman of the Week in his first two games. But has he been good enough to outplay Manning?

UT’s defense, under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, has been effective. But can it lock down the talent-loaded Longhorns?

The Vols have the sixth-ranked rushing offense in college football. But is their offensive line underachieving against weak competition?

UT outscored Furman and Georgia Tech by a combined margin of 101-33. But it had special teams miscues and a rash of penalties. Playing like that, can it survive the fast-approaching SEC gauntlet?

Tennessee (2-0) plays Kennesaw State (1-1) on Sept. 19 (7:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network) at Neyland Stadium to cap the nonconference schedule. Then comes a nine-game SEC slate, beginning with Texas on Sept. 26 (noon, ABC).

How the Vols measure up is a topic behind closed doors.

“I’ve done this for a long time, and I understand that every week you need to be better than you were the week before,” cornerbacks coach Derek Jones said. “As a coach, you know where you have to be when you play against elite competition, when you play against elite quarterback play.”

Josh Heupel focused on Kennesaw State, but fans look ahead

Rest assured, Tennessee isn’t taking Kennesaw State lightly. Coach Josh Heupel made that clear when he bristled at the game being called a “tune-up” for SEC play.

“It’s not a tune-up. You better show up every Saturday,” Heupel said. “Media, your family, your girlfriend, whoever – they might want to pigeonhole you as this. But you decide who you are collectively as a team and as a program. You better get ready to go play.”

But media and fans judge this team with a wider view, asking whether it’s good enough to beat the best teams on its schedule.

UT might not be good enough, at least not yet. But that’s not how college football seasons play out, especially in the transfer portal era where teams are constantly meshing and improving.

“We’re always trying to build a better product,” said linebacker Amare Campbell, a Penn State transfer. “There’s always room for improvement, so I wouldn’t say that (Knowles) is satisfied (about UT’s defense).”

Why it's best to withhold judgment on Tennessee offensive line

In college football, each game stands alone. But each game also builds on the previous ones. Projecting a team’s destination by its first steps is unfair and usually inaccurate.

A good example of this is Tennessee’s offensive line play. UT rushed for 299 yards in a 45-24 win at Georgia Tech on Sept. 12. And it ranks second in the SEC in rushing offense, averaging 314 yards per game.

Those stats suggest dominance. But the offensive line has caught criticism for its inconsistency against lesser opponents.

Left tackle David Sanders shed light on the praise and criticism. He said the offensive line hasn’t played with dominance, but it could reach that point later in the season. He believes it's fair to withhold judgment.

“We’re not very satisfied with how we’ve been playing so far,” Sanders said. “We have a very talented running back room. So even with some of the mistakes we make, they tend to make plays and make us look better.

“But once we click as an offensive line – all five operating as one – we will be very dominant.”

Sanders said Furman and Georgia Tech presented unorthodox defensive looks that UT had not practiced against and required adjustments in the moment. But the offensive line, which is still trying to secure a rotation, should play more cohesively after making those quick fixes through numerous games.

Coaches know Vols must improve before playing Texas

During a team meeting to start Kennesaw State game week, Heupel reminded his players that “good teams continue to get better.”

That’s why projecting UT’s top level of play based on its current state is premature. The Vols are pretty good now, but they expect to get better as the season goes along and the competition ramps up.

However, each game reveals a little more about the big picture, and the Vols sense that.

UT running backs put on a show against Georgia Tech. They averaged almost 7 yards per carry and broke two long TD runs.

But running backs coach De’Rail Sims didn’t celebrate for long. He knows five of the top 25 rush defenses in the nation are ahead on UT’s schedule: LSU, Alabama, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Auburn.

And Texas smothered Ohio State for only 94 yards rushing and 3 yards per rush.

“I had a bunch of critiques for (UT running backs) because we left a ton of yards on the field (against Georgia Tech),” Sims said. “It looks like it’s really, really good. But when you get to the sideline and watch the iPad, you see things that could’ve made the play even better.”

Jones had the same message for his cornerbacks. He’s preparing them to play Kennesaw State, but he knows a matchup with talented Texas receivers Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo is just around the corner.

“I think we were probably at a C-plus (against Georgia Tech). I’ve been trying to harp on them about where we have to get to (in order) to be as good as we can be,” Jones said. “You didn’t get tested against Furman and probably really didn’t get tested against Georgia Tech.

“So I’m trying to give these guys a picture of what it should look like all the time and what they can anticipate week to week.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing atknoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How Texas is making us hypercritical of Tennessee football’s flaws