The Tennessee Vols are off this weekend after their thrilling overtime road win over the Mississippi State Bulldogs last Saturday in Starkville.

Tennessee’s next game is on Oct. 11 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Vols will be looking to avenge last season’s loss to Arkansas.

Vols head coach Josh Heupel is well aware that Tennessee is in the same situation that caused a major problem last season against Arkansas

Tennessee’s season ended last year when it was blown out by the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus during the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Playing the eventual national champs on the road was a brutal playoff draw for the Vols, but it was their own fault that they were in that situation. Tennessee would’ve hosted a playoff game last season had they not lost to a mediocre Arkansas team in October.

Tennessee’s loss to Arkansas last season came in a similar situation to this year’s matchup between the Vols and the Razorbacks.

The Vols won a tough road game against Oklahoma in late September before an off weekend. Tennessee then lost to Arkansas in its first game after the bye.

This season, Tennessee won a tough road game against Mississippi State in late September ahead of an off weekend. And just like last season, the Vols’ first game after the bye will be against Arkansas.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel is well aware that the Vols are in a similar situation as last season.

“We can point to last year and the way that we played coming off of the bye week,” said Heupel on Wednesday when asked about keeping his team motivated during an off week. “You look at last week, excited and happy about the way we competed. Went and played the next play, next series, went and finished the game. But there’s a lot of things that we can do a lot better.”

The Vols get Arkansas at home this season, so that’s a big plus for Heupel’s squad.

This game, though, could still be tricky for Tennessee.

Arkansas fired head coach Sam Pittman and defensive coordinator Travis Williams earlier this week. Offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino will serve as the interim head coach. And assistant defensive line coach Chris Wilson, who worked alongside Heupel at Oklahoma in the 2000’s, will serve as the defensive play caller.

“I think it will be important for us schematically, one to communicate and adjust on the field, but two on the sidelines — [that’s] staff and players together,” said Heupel when asked about facing a new staff at Arkansas. “[They] had a ton of success last year and the three-down front they did against us. Preparing for that and then we’ll adjust to anything else we see.”

Arkansas is having a dreadful year, but there’s no such thing as automatic wins in the SEC, especially in the NIL/transfer portal era. Tennessee will need to treat this matchup like it’s against Alabama or Georgia to ensure it doesn’t have a letdown game against an inferior opponent.

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Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby said that his team “gave” 14 points to the Tennessee Vols on Saturday night in Starkville. Lebby’s comment was in reference to the two defensive touchdowns that Tennessee scored in the Vols’ 41-34 overtime win over the Bulldogs. The second-year Mississippi State head coach suggested that the game […]

Zach Ragan