The Tennessee Vols' offense looked like it had put its struggles in the past on UT's first offensive drive against the Florida Gators on Saturday night. 

After Tennessee's defense held Florida to a field goal attempt (which was missed), the Vols quickly marched down the field, scoring on a six play drive that included an explosive pass play from Joe Milton to Squirrel White that went for 41 yards. 

The Vols' quick scoring strike appeared to be a sign that Tennessee's offense was finally hitting its stride. 

But that wasn't the case. 

Tennessee followed up that scoring drive with a punt, interception, punt, punt. That sequence resulted in the Vols trailing 26-7 at halftime. 

So what went wrong for Tennessee? Why did the offense go from looking unstoppable to pedestrian in the span of one drive? 

According to Vols redshirt senior wide receiver Bru McCoy, it's because Tennessee wasn't confident that they could replicate the success of the first drive of the game. 

"I can't really pinpoint it exactly," said McCoy when asked about the struggles after the first drive. "We came out fast, started fast and then sort of lost the momentum a little bit. Me personally, I think we started thinking back that we couldn't do it again and we just had. It's a mindset thing. It's a confidence thing. It's trusting one another in what we are capable of doing. It's really just that." 

McCoy added that the loss to Florida should light a fire under everyone. 

"I think a loss like this [will] really light a fire under anybody," said McCoy. "I know me personally, this feeling and the way this feels, I'm not going to take this lightly. I think everyone else on the offense will fall in line on that. So hopefully moving forward there won't be laboring days or nights. Not that we're going to be perfect, but we're going to work for it." 

Bru McCoy said the loss to Florida should light a fire under everyone pic.twitter.com/HqcKFqFEdU

— zach ragan (@zachTNT) September 17, 2023

I know the loss to Florida wasn't pretty (and neither was the win against Austin Peay), but that doesn't necessarily mean that this Tennessee team has major issues. In fact, I think that's far from the case. 

The Vols didn't play well against the Gators, but the effort, for the most part, was there.

We saw physical runs/catches from McCoy, Jaylen Wright, and McCallan Castles late in the game. Guys were still straining, even as time was running out on Tennessee's comeback attempt. 

The biggest issue with the Vols is exactly what McCoy not-so-subtly pointed out — it's a confidence thing. 

It's obvious from watching Tennessee this season that the same confidence and swagger from last season isn't present with this team. And that's not say that it won't be at some point this season — I think this Vols team is still finding its identity — but for now, this team doesn't believe that it's going to score 60 points every time they hit the field. Instead, they're hoping to have a good night. 

And that's not a recipe for success. I don't care what sport we're talking about, if a team takes the field without confidence, they almost certainly won't win. Confidence is everything in sports. 

Until the Vols find that, it's going to be rough season. Maybe they figure it out this week. Tennessee showed on two drives against Florida that the explosiveness is there. But slight hesitations — all it takes is a half a second of doubt — are torpedoing Tennessee's chances of hitting big plays in most situations. 

The confidence thing has to get figured out if the Volunteers are going to turn this season around. Part of that is on the coaches, but part of it is on the players, too. They're at Tennessee because they're championship-caliber players. But they have to believe that's true before anyone else can believe it. 

Billy Napier made a subtle comment about Tennessee that all Vols fans need to hear

Billy Napier spoke truth in a subtle moment after Florida’s win against Tennessee

Featured image via Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK