Joel Klatt identifies when we will know if Tennessee is a real contender

Tennessee has quickly climbed up the rankings just two weeks into the college football season. Entering the year ranked No. 15 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll and now sitting at No. 7 in the rankings following a dominant 51-10 win over NC State last Saturday.

The Vols have answered several preseason questions surrounding their team heading into Week 3, but it could also be argued that they haven’t been tested just yet this season after outscoring their first two opponents 120-13. Which led to college football analyst Joel Klatt addressing when he feels that Tennessee can be officially tabbed as a national title contender.

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“So what I thought at the beginning of the season was it was a wait and see because of the quarterback. Now he’s been electric for the better part of two games, so when will we know for sure?” Klatt asked. “Well, we’re going to know for sure when we start looking at their schedule and they’ve got at Oklahoma, at Arkansas, Alabama, and at Georgia. That’s September 21st, October 5th, October 19th, and November 16th.”

“I think the date is September 21st at Oklahoma, that’s the date that we’re going to know for sure,” Klatt said. “These are their toughest remaining games, at least in my estimation, and we’re going to know if Tennessee is as good as I think they are right now, on September 21st against OU.”

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Redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava has impressed in his first two games of the season as the Vols’ starter under centered. Paired with a defense that hasn’t allowed a touchdown so far this season. But it’s pretty safe to say that a matchup two weeks from now against the Sooners in Norman will serve as their biggest obstacle of the season so far.

“If they play well in that game, then I don’t think an SEC Championship game and a playoff appearance is out of the question. Remember, it’s just a different framework with how we’re doing this. They don’t have to win the East, so they don’t have to be better than Georgia in order to go to the SEC Championship game. They don’t even have to beat Georgia,” Klatt explained.

The new look SEC added the Sooners and rival Texas and got rid of divisions, which paired with the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff could give Volunteers some unprecedented opportunities in the postseason this year. But they’ll have to get by Oklahoma first and foremost.

“Now if they go to Oklahoma and struggle, then I’m going to punt on that kind of prediction and expectation. But their front seven is really strong, James Pearce is an excellent player,” Klatt said. “They held North Carolina State to 143 total yards and they had three takeaways, one pick six. I’m in on Tennessee right now, I think that they’re a very good football team. We’re going to know for sure on September 21 against Oklahoma.”

Before the Vols’ highly anticipated matchup against Oklahoma, they host Kent State this Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET in a game airing on SEC Network.