If you take a look around social media and message boards, it would appear that half of the Tennessee Vols fan base is in panic mode after UT's 29-16 loss to the Florida Gators this past weekend. 

There's no doubt that the game was ugly. Tennessee's tackling wasn't good, the offensive line had a rough day, and the offense, in general, wasn't crisp. 

But instead of just chalking the loss up to a bad night, it seems like half of the fan base thinks that losing to Florida means there are locker room issues or that Vols head coach Josh Heupel is in over his head. 

Just absolute silliness. 

The doom-n-gloom fans need to realize that losses happen in sports. Perfect seasons in college football are quite rare. And they're going to become even more rare thanks to the transfer portal and the NIL era. 

There's also something else that Vols fans need to realize. And this is even more important when it comes to this year's Tennessee team. 

Anyone expecting this team to pick up where they left off last season is foolish.

Tennessee is operating this season with a new quarterback and without several key players from last year's roster, including their starting right tackle (Darnell Wright), their starting left guard (Jerome Carvin), the 2022 Biletnikoff Award winner (Jalin Hyatt), the leading returning SEC wide receiver entering the 2022 season (Cedric Tillman), an edge rusher who is now starting for the Los Angeles Rams (Byron Young), and the 2022 SEC offensive player of the year (Hendon Hooker). 

Tennessee also played on Saturday night in the Swamp without starting center Cooper Mays, right tackle Gerald Mincey, cornerback Doneiko Slaughter, and linebacker Keenan Pili. 

Oh, and the Vols have a new offensive coordinator in Joey Halzle this season. While Halzle provides plenty of continuity for Heupel's offense, the loss of previous offensive coordinator Alex Golesh, who is now the head coach at USF (they gave Alabama a scare this past weekend) is a bigger deal than folks realize. It's not that Halzle is unfit for the job — no one reasonable is suggesting that — but Golesh had a big impact on the offense. And his presence was always going to be missed. Halzle will find his groove as he grows into the position, but for now, it's not the same as having Golesh and Halzle together in the booth like last season. 

Expecting the Vols to pick up where they left off in 2022 was never realistic. 

And look, I know Tennessee has stated that their goal is to win the SEC East this season. And that's still a possibility for this team. But just because they have that goal (which they should have every year), doesn't mean this team was destined to hit on all cylinders as soon as the season kicked off. 

Remember, last year's team had all of 2021 to gel. This year's team is going through the "gelling" process now. 

How that turns out is anyone's guess. But I wouldn't write this team off because of the early season struggles. There's a lot of talent on Tennessee's roster. And with Mays returning soon, I think we'll start to see the Vols find their offensive identity. We've seen it in spurts this season (Jaylen Wright can create explosive plays in the run game and we've some of the explosive pass plays, just not on a consistent basis), they just need to find some consistency and confidence. 

Everything about Tennessee's offense is centered on everyone being on the same page. That takes time to build. 

We'll see if this Vols team can eventually get to a similar level as last year's team. There's of course no guarantee that they will, but it's far too early to suggest that they won't. 

There doesn't always have to be something majorly wrong when a loss happens. Sometimes a loss is just a loss. Tennessee did some good things on Saturday night — especially in the second half when the effort level was still high despite low odds that UT would win the game. 

Less than a year ago, it looked like the sky was falling after the Vols lost to South Carolina and lost Hooker for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. 

And then Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 56-0 on the road and took care of business against Clemson in the Orange Bowl via a 31-14 win. Those two wins came after ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit went on national television and repeated unfound message board rumors that Tennessee had locker room problems (which clearly wasn't the case). 

Losses happen to good teams for a myriad of reasons. We're still trying to find out how good this Tennessee team is, but the final judgement can't and won't be a loss to Florida in September. There's still a lot of season left to be played. And the Vols deserve to play those games before anyone tries to write this team's story. 

Featured image via Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports