KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have one last chance to fix a nagging issue on their own field before hitting the road. Scoring before halftime.
The Vols have been shut out through the first 30 minutes by Arkansas, Florida and Alabama. They rallied to beat Florida and Alabama. They managed one touchdown before halftime against Kentucky with their stingy defense keeping them close for a third straight comeback.
“We need to, we want to start a lot faster than we have here in the last few weeks,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. "We have to take advantage of things and do the simple things at a high level. In particular, down in the red zone where we have had to kick too many field goals the last few weeks, we have had turnovers, we have gotten behind the chains, things that we control.
We have to be better.” Tennessee (7-1, 4-1 SEC, No. 7 CFP ) goes into Saturday night's homecoming game against Mississippi State among five one-loss teams in the Southeastern Conference.
This is the Vols' last potential tune-up before a visit to No. 2 Georgia in a game that could help decide much more than just who plays for the SEC title on Dec. 7.
The Bulldogs (2-7, 0-5) should provide a good opportunity for Tennessee to work out those offensive kinks. Mississippi State just snapped a seven-game skid last week against Massachusetts . First-year coach Jeff Lebby hopes his Bulldogs keep growing from experience this season.
“The setting, the environment, .