Tennessee Vols receive raw deal with latest college football news
The Tennessee Vols under Josh Heupel will play anyone at any time. Heupel has made it clear during his time as Tennessee's head coach that the Vols can't control the schedule or what time a game is played — they're going to be ready to go regardless. But there are still some obvious advantages to […]
The Tennessee Vols under Josh Heupel will play anyone at any time.
Heupel has made it clear during his time as Tennessee's head coach that the Vols can't control the schedule or what time a game is played — they're going to be ready to go regardless.
But there are still some obvious advantages to games being played at certain times. It will be better for Tennessee, for example, to play Georgia in Knoxville this season at night — which should mean a more electric crowd in Neyland.
Conversely, the Vols were better off playing at LSU at 11 AM local time in Baton Rouge last season, which allowed Tennessee to avoid a raucous night crowd at Tiger Stadium.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the schedule isn't going to work out quite as conveniently in 2023. At least not for the first few games of the season.
Times for the first three games of the 2023 season were announced on Wednesday. And it's not the best scenario for Tennessee.
The Vols will open the season on September 2 in Nashville against Virginia. That game is slated for a 12:00 PM ET kickoff (11 AM local time in Nashville). Tennessee's home opener on September 9 against Austin Peay is still TBD.
UT will then travel to Gainesville on September 16 to play Florida in a 7:00 PM ET matchup.
The Austin Peay game time isn't a big deal — no one is expecting a premier time slot for that matchup.
It's the other two games that are the issue.
In a perfect world for the Vols, those game times would be flipped.
A night game in Nashville to open the season would be much more ideal than an 11 AM local kickoff. There should be plenty of energy since it's the first weekend of the season, but it won't be quite as rowdy as a night game would be.
The Florida game time is a bigger concern. If Tennessee is going to compete for a national championship in 2023 — and that's the program's goal — then they have to beat the Gators on the road for the first time since 2003.
The Vols should be favored in that matchup even though it's on the road. Florida is still finding its way under Billy Napier. Tennessee, for once, is the more stable program. But playing in the Swamp at night is never easy. And having this game start at 7:00 PM as opposed to noon will make it a significantly tougher game for Tennessee (aside from the Vols' win against LSU last season, UT struggled on the road — specifically with crowd noise). I'm sure the Vols have worked hard this offseason to handle crowd noise better, but they still have to prove they can be better in that area in 2023.
(Note: One good thing about playing a night game in the Swamp is that it won't be nearly as hot as a noon or 3:30 game would be.)
Ultimately, Tennessee has to go out and execute regardless of what time any game kicks off. But anyone who thinks there's no difference in playing Florida on the road at noon as opposed to 7:00 PM hasn't watched much college football over the years. The Gators will be looking for revenge against the Vols this season and I have no doubt that Florida fans will have the Swamp rocking in September when Tennessee comes to town.
Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
