Greg McElroy: 'I think Tennessee can win the whole thing. I really believe that.'

Greg McElroy isn’t trying to get too far ahead of himself. But he saw what he saw Saturday night at Oklahoma. Tennessee Football’s 25-15 win was so impressive that it was hard not to look way down the road.

“Really trying not to be a prisoner at the moment,” McElroy said earlier this week on his ‘Always College Football’ show. “I’m really trying not to be, but I think Tennessee … I think Tennessee can win the whole thing. I really believe that. 

“And based on this past weekend’s performance, there was a lot of things I learned about this Tennessee football team. A lot. Yes, it wasn’t the vintage easy 50-plus point offensive outburst that we have become accustomed to seeing from the Tennessee Volunteers.”

Instead, it was No. 5 Tennessee (4-0, 1-0 SEC) going on the road, building a commanding lead in the first half and playing ball control the rest of the way, all while riding a terrorizing defensive effort from start to finish.

“I think the biggest thing I learned about this game,” McElroy said, “was just how this program has matured.”

Up Next: No. 5 Tennessee at Arkansas, Saturday, October 5

Tennessee led 22-3 entering the fourth quarter and had held Oklahoma under 100 total yards over the first three quarters. The Vols finished with three sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three turnovers forced and recorded a safety for a second straight week.

The Vols rushed 52 times as a team for 151 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Sampson carried 24 times for 92 yards and DeSean Bishop had 16 attempts for another 65 yards. Iamaleava ran eight times for 15 yards.

Nico Iamaleava completed 13 of 21 passes for 194 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to put the Vols up 10-3 in the first quarter. He also had completions of 38 and 42 yards to Bru McCoy. 

There were just 10 passes attempted in the second half, including just two in the fourth quarter.

“I think there was a time,” McElroy said, “and this is a little bit on Josh Heupel as a coach —he’s an aggressive coach, that that goes without saying — I think everybody that’s watched Tennessee over the years knows that this is an aggressive, aggressive team by nature. 

“Whether it’s defensive pressures, taking shots down field, Josh Heupel wants to ramp it up and apply the pressure, no doubt about it. But that’s not what this game needed in order for the Volunteers to find victory. So I think what it showed me is that Josh Heupel understood and could get the temperature and could kind of sense how the game was being played.” 

Instead, McElroy said Heupel checked “checked his … offensive ego at the door.”

“And (he) said, you know what, we’re fine playing field position, I guess,” McElroy continued. “What if we punt the ball here? There’s nothing wrong with that because we can just continue to flip the field with what Jackson Ross is doing. You look at the field-position game and they were in an amazing place all throughout the game. Hey, we’re fine settling for three points here in a game, in which points could be at a premium. We’re good kicking the field goal as opposed to going for it and potentially getting a touchdown … This (defense) is a deep group. This is a relentless group. And they showed it again (at Oklahoma).”

‘It would not surprise me at all if Tennessee ends up winning the national championship’

And the offense got by without starting left tackle Lance Heard and with starting right tackle John Campbell exiting in the middle of the game. 

“As far as Tennessee’s offense is concerned,” McElroy said, “to go on the road and to win a game like that against a defense like that without both tackles …  pretty amazing. 

“I thought Nico played fine, thought he hit a couple big plays and that’s all it required. Made a couple nice runs with his legs, had a couple pivotal conversions. I feel great about where Nico’s going. And he’s not there yet. He’s still a young player, but it would’ve been very easy for him to have a bunch of mistakes in a hostile environment.”

Another hostile environment awaits the Vols on the other side of the bye week, with a trip to Arkansas next week. Then Tennessee returns home for four straight games over a five-week stretch, including dates with Florida and Alabama, before going to Georgia. 

“This group can play with anybody in the country,” McElroy said. “And it would not surprise me at all if Tennessee ends up winning the national championship this year. They’re that good and they have progressed that much under Josh Heupel.”