Paul Finebaum tabs Tennessee 'easily a playoff team' after Oklahoma win
Tennessee opened up conference play with a convincing 25-15 win over Oklahoma, proving it was capable of going on the road and winning against a quality opponent.
And at least one ESPN analyst is taking it as a sign that the Volunteers are a College Football Playoff-caliber team.
“They have been woeful on the road,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said on SportsCenter. “And they finally ended that last night. Now let’s be frank here, Oklahoma is not the Oklahoma of Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray and the good old days. This is more of a pedestrian unit, and Jackson Arnold certainly struggled.
“But Tennessee’s got everything going and quite frankly this looks like easily a playoff team, maybe a team that can play late into January.”
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It was the defense that stood out in Saturday night’s contest, though quarterback Nico Iamaleava did a fine enough job leading the offense. Oklahoma, though, could not routinely move the ball.
The Sooners had just 222 total yards of offense in the contest and never truly made it a game. Twelve of the team’s 15 points in the contest came in the fourth quarter, with Tennessee sporting a considerable lead.
The win moved the Volunteers to 1-0 in SEC play and kicked off the league slate on a positive note.
Importantly, it was also a meaningful win to coach Josh Heupel, who nearly won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma but was later fired as an offensive assistant coach by the Sooners.
“Well, this game coming back for our football team wasn’t about me. It wasn’t. It was about this 2024 journey and our football team. But they realized it was important for me to come back and I wanted to get a win,” Heupel said to ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe after the win.
“Ultimately, I know mom’s watching, up top. But this is the next step for this football team in this journey. It’s tough to win on the road, at night, against a good team. We found a way to do that. Good teams continue to get better, we’ve gotta continue to find ways to get better.”
Then there’s this amazing stat from SportsCenter, too: Tennessee has yet to trail in a game at any point this season.
A dominant start for a team that could easily influence the playoff picture come December.