Paul Finebaum seriously concerned about Tennessee after loss to Florida

Florida pulled off an upset over rival Tennessee in The Swamp. It was a game that raised plenty of questions about the Volunteers and now has analyst Paul Finebaum seriously concerned about Tennessee.

During an appearance on the Matt Barrie Show, Finebaum pointed out that things haven’t been easy for Tennessee in SEC play and that should be a concern for Volunteers’ fans.

“I think that was Tennessee’s third loss in its last five SEC games,” Paul Finebaum said. “Remember the South Carolina game last year? You have to be a little, not a little, seriously concerned if you’re a Tennessee fan because I sat with some of the experts yesterday and they told me, ‘Joe Milton, he’ll be fine.’ Well, he wasn’t fine.”

Finebaum is referencing back to the 2022 season, where Tennessee went 2-2 in its final four SEC games. That included losses to Georgia and South Carolina. It was in the South Carolina loss when starting quarterback Hendon Hooker was injured and Joe Milton took over for him.

For the most part, Milton played well in place of Hooker. However, there were still questions about his ability to lead the Volunteers as the starting quarterback in 2023.

Through three games, Tennessee is 2-1. For his part, Milton has completed 63.9 percent of his passes this season for 716 yards and six touchdowns to only one interception. Still, there are concerns that the Volunteers are too inconsistent in the passing game.

“End of the day, we’ve got to go make some plays. That’s throwing it a little bit better. That’s catching it a little bit better. There’s big chunks of yardage in open grass for us to go make,” head coach Josh Heupel said, addressing those concerns.

“Joe would tell you he’s got to hit a couple of those. We’ve got to make the play out on the perimeter. Some subtle things, fundamentally, that can help you be more accurate with the ball, but we’ve seen them operate in that, we just didn’t execute it very well early in the football game.”

Josh Heupel defended Tennessee hitting Graham Mertz late

At the end of the loss to Florida, Josh Heupel called a timeout to force Florida to run another play. The Gators chose to have quarterback Graham Mertz try to kill clock before kneeling down. He did that but took a late hit that started a scuffle.

After the game, Heupel explained what happened there, from his point of view.

“That sequence right there, we’re trying to get the ball back, right. Trying to take a shot at the endzone. I don’t know if we’re gonna have enough time for an onside and maybe get it and get a shot back, but you’re trying to finish and compete the right way,” Heupel said.

“He’s dancing around. Do you want the targeting? Obviously not, but the guy’s dancing around, so you’ve got to go tackle the guy too. So, do we want to be composed in that situation and all situations? Absolutely.”