Tennessee fans immediately turn on Josh Heupel after Vanderbilt’s early deficit

Win and you’re in the game. That’s the stake for Tennessee Volunteers. After last weekend’s mayhem, the Vols are completely out of the College Football Playoff image, to get firmly in the middle of it during rivalry week. All 9-2 Tennessee needs to do is beat little brother Vanderbilt in Nashville to get in as an at-large team. A loss would definitely put them out as a 9-3 team, so what will it be?

Vanderbilt gave the Vols all they could handle and then some in the first half. While Vanderbilt is no slouch, the Commodores are just a six-win team. They may be backed by the living legend that is Diego Pavia, but Tennessee has a huge talent advantage going into this game. However, nothing is decided until the final whistle. It’s one where Josh Heupel has to be on the right side.

Tennessee played much better in the second quarter, but Vanderbilt led 17-7 in the second frame. A 100-yard punt return and other early fumbles helped give Vanderbilt an early lead that the ‘Dores later chipped away at. All I know is that the longer Tennessee lets Vanderbilt hang around, the more likely the Commodores will be able to pull off the SEC’s major upset.

In the meantime, watch Vol Nation fall to pieces over the bad job they think Heupel is doing this week.

As long as the Vols win this game, Heupel will be able to maintain major pressure.

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A Heupel move would be disastrous for Tennessee. He may have to improve his air raid attack to win a national title, but he certainly helped the Volunteers close the gap on the rest of the SEC and major College Football Playoff contenders. My biggest concern with the Vols in this game is that Nico Iamaleava has yet to show us why he supposedly got all that NIL money previously.

You look at his counterpart in Diego Pavia and wonder what he could be if he had a defender as experienced, as polished, as competitive as Pavia. Again, Tennessee should be one of the best teams in the country, but they are out of opportunities to prove to everyone that they belong in the playoffs. They simply must beat Vanderbilt to merit inclusion in the 12-team field.

If Tennessee can keep their heads, the Vols should win this game, but that may depend entirely on Heupel.