Tennessee's pulse in 2023: 'Why not us?'

In the Tennessee Volunteers‘ minds, they’re not the dark horse. They’re the shining knight ready to be crowned.

“To me, the pulse that Tennessee has is, ‘Why not us?’ Because, the internal versus external feel around Tennessee with that fan base is very, very different. The external feel, you’re going to hear things like this: ‘Look at what they lost. No more Hendon Hooker. No more Jalin Hyatt. You’ll also hear, ‘Well, the defense is still a problem,'” On3’s own JD PicKell said on a recent episode of “The Hard Count.”

These are fair expectations from outsiders. Hooker was a finalist for the Maxwell Award and recorded the highest Heisman Trophy finish — fifth place — by a Vol in 25 years. Meanwhile, Hyatt became first player in UT history to win the Biletnikoff Award, presented annually to the most outstanding receiver in college football.

Now, both of these Tennessee standouts are in the NFL. In other words, Tennessee has a lot of holes to fill. As PicKell mentioned, the offense isn’t the only place of concern. The Volunteers’ defense was a mess last season.

In 2022, Tennessee gave up 289.5 passing yards per game, ranking 127th out of 131 FBS teams. Not great. The ugly pattern crystalized in front of the Vols’ eyes on Nov. 19, 2022, when UT gave up 438 passing yards and six touchdowns to South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler.

The Gamecocks battered Tennessee 63-38, effectively crushing any dreams the Vols had of making the College Football Playoff. Despite outsiders’ understandable concerns, PicKell believes Tennessee will be just fine this season, especially with QB Joe Milton III leading the charge.

“Joe Milton could be a top 10 pick if Tennessee does what they’re supposed to do this coming season. You’ve seen him have viral highlight after viral highlight this past offseason. I know it’s not 11-on-11. But heck, it’s the offseason we got to be excited about stuff.

“[The Volunteers] understood [last year’s success] wasn’t the destination. It was a nice feather in the cap. It’s a nice way to cap off the 2022 season. That wasn’t the destination for the good folks in Tennessee. For them, they’re looking to continue to build off last year. They’re not satisfied with last year. They’re looking to make the CFP, they’re looking to win the SEC,” PicKell said.

Tennessee will begin its journey toward its lofty goals on Sept. 2, when the team takes on the Virginia Cavaliers in the season-opener.