Tennessee knows the assignment the next two weeks: 'Got to win out. Got to win convincingly.'
Bru McCoy knows the assignment for No. 10 Tennessee’s final two games on the regular-season schedule. Win and win big. There are no other options on the table for the Vols in their pursuit of a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“It’s kind of stating the obvious,” McCoy said after practice on Tuesday. “Got to win out. Got to win convincingly. Got to show some things on tape that maybe we haven’t shown previously so that whoever knows that we can do certain things at a high level.”
That starts on Saturday afternoon when the Vols (8-2) host UTEP (2-8) on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium, scheduled for a 1 p.m Eastern Time start on ESPN+ and SEC Network+. Tennessee goes to Vanderbilt next week for the regular-season finale in Nashville.
Tennessee enters Saturday as first team out of the College Football Playoff
“Really it’s just going as hard as you can for these last two weeks,” McCoy said. “The way my mind is, I’m not even thinking about next week. I’m thinking about my next film session in an hour.”
The Georgia film likely wasn’t fun for Tennessee players. The Vols jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter last week at Sanford Stadium in Athens, only to see the Bulldogs rally for a 31-17 win.
The loss bumped Tennessee to No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings on Tuesday night, but dropped the Vols out of the projected 12-team playoff bracket. The final spot went to BYU, which would get an automatic bid as the projected Big 12 champion despite being ranked 14th in the CFP Top 25.
The Vols were ranked No. 7 and seeded eighth the previous two weeks.
“End of the day,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Wednesday, “we have no control over the rankings. There’s still a lot of football to be played and we can’t control those things. We can control our preparation, how we practice, how we get better and getting ready to go play good football.”
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Bru McCoy: ‘Just win out and put all the hard work we’ve had on display’
Alabama, Georgia and Ole Miss, all with matching 8-2 records, were all ranked ahead of Tennessee on Tuesday. Losses from any of the other SEC teams, or Notre Dame or Indiana, could help the Vols move back up in the rankings over the next two weeks.
The first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket will be announced on Sunday, December 8.
“I’ve been on both sides of it,” Heupel said, “where you look like you got a chance to be in. You look like you’re out. The reality is there’s two more weeks of regular-season play and conference championship games after that.
“So for us, man, focus on what we can control. Said that to the players (on Wednesday) before we tipped off and thought we had a really good day on the grass. A lot of focus and energy and guys continuing to get better.”
And a continuing to chase a playoff spot.
“Just win out and put all the hard work we’ve had on display,” McCoy said. “We’ve talked a lot about the potential we have and almost being there. Now we’ve got two opportunities in these next two weeks to put that on display.”
