Tennessee fought hard on Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium, but they couldn’t quite get the job done against Texas.

The Vols had a chance to win the game on the final play of the game, but true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s Hail Mary attempt fell incomplete and the Longhorns walked away with a 20-17 win.

Tennessee’s loss to Texas was frustrating for fans

Vols fans were understandably frustrated after the loss — mostly because the game was there for the taking.

Tennessee’s defense played extremely well, but the Vols’ offense could never get anything going. The Longhorns’ defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, which made it tough for Tennessee to run the ball. Brandon was often pressured, and even when he had time, he was slow to pull the trigger when receivers were open.

It would be easy for some fans to point out that it’s another loss in a big game for head coach Josh Heupel, but I think we have to look at this game independent of other big games that Tennessee has lost.

Yes, there are things that have to be better moving forward (the offensive line has to improve, that is a problem that Heupel needs to fix), but there are plenty of reasons for optimism after the loss to Texas.

For starters, the Vols’ offense played as bad as it could’ve and Tennessee still had a chance to beat the No. 1 team in the nation on the final play of the game. If Brandon’s Hail Mary is somehow caught and the Vols win, it would totally change how Tennessee is perceived nationally, but it wouldn’t change anything about how the team played the other 59 minutes of the game.

That’s why I don’t think we can get too caught up in the result.

This Tennessee team can grow into a really good team. They’re not that far away. The young quarterback just needs experience. While the offensive line certainly didn’t play well, not all of the 10 sacks were on them. There were times when Brandon could’ve thrown the ball away (or completed a pass) and avoided a sack. Once Brandon starts playing a little more free and letting it rip, it’ll take some of the pressure off the offensive line against elite defenses.

And look, Brandon is only 18 years old. He was making his first career SEC start against one of the best teams in the country. That’s a tough spot. It’s understandable that things sped up on him a bit out there. Brandon was going up against a top defensive coordinator in Will Muschamp. He saw a lot of things for the first time. Brandon will be a better player moving forward because of this game. The ceiling is high for the North Carolina native, and nothing about a bad game against a tough opponent at 18 years old makes me change my opinion of Brandon. There is no rushing development — all quarterbacks go through games like this. It’s the only way to grow (by the way, Brandon didn’t turn the ball over any against Texas).

Overall, we saw a Tennessee defense that played with an edge and did enough for the Vols to win the game. We saw a team that continued to compete — even when it looked like the game was over once Texas took a 10-point lead — and they put themselves in a spot to win the game on the final play.

If you just want to look at the box score and the result and get mad, I get it. But I think that’s a shortsighted way to look at Tennessee, and I think it takes away from the effort that we saw from many of the Vols players against the Longhorns.

Tennessee is going to improve as the season goes along. If Brandon can settle in and start playing his game without worrying about making mistakes, then I still think this is a Tennessee team that’s capable of winning every game left on the schedule.