2020 Tennessee Volunteers football team

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
	East Division
	West Division
	Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
	$ – Conference champion; x – Division champion/co-champions; * – ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban; Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC will play a conference-only schedule. ; Rankings from AP Poll.

Tennessee Volunteers football
2020 Tennessee Volunteers football
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
2020 record	3–7 (3–7 SEC)
Head coach	Jeremy Pruitt (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Jim Chaney (6th season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Derrick Ansley (2nd season)
Home stadium	Neyland Stadium; (Capacity: Limited Attendance Due to COVID-19 Restrictions)

The 2020 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented of the University of Tennessee in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Volunteers played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

In a season initially canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before being reinstated, the Volunteers compiled a 3–7 record, all in conference games. While the team did not have a winning record, the NCAA had waived bowl eligibility requirement for the season,[1] and Volunteers accepted a bid to the Liberty Bowl. However, the team had to withdraw on December 21 due to positive COVID-19 testing.[2] They were led by third-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt, in what would turn out to be his final year. Pruitt would later be fired in January 2021 following an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations. He would leave Knoxville with a 16-19 overall record.

Previous season

Tennessee finished the 2019 regular season at 7–5 overall, 5–3 in the SEC, and were bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. On January 2, the Volunteers won the Gator Bowl over Indiana, 23–22,[3] to finish at 8–5 for the season.

Preseason

SEC Media Days

In the preseason media poll, Tennessee was predicted to finish in third place in the East Division.[4]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (East Division)
1	Florida	624 (53)
2	Georgia	613 (43)
3	Tennessee	434
4	Kentucky	405
5	South Carolina	287
6	Missouri	224
7	Vanderbilt	101

Schedule

Tennessee had games scheduled against Charlotte, Furman, Oklahoma, and Troy, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5][6][7][8]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26	7:30 p.m.	at South Carolina	No. 16	Williams–Brice Stadium Columbia, SC	SECN	W 31–27	15,009
October 3	Noon	Missouri	No. 21	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	SECN	W 35–12	21,159
October 10	3:30 pm	at No. 3 Georgia	No. 14	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA (rivalry)	CBS	L 21–44	20,524
October 17	Noon	Kentucky	No. 18	Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	SECN	L 7–34	22,519
October 24	3:30 p.m.	No. 2 Alabama		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	CBS	L 17–48	23,394
November 7	7:30 p.m.	at Arkansas		Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium Fayetteville, AR	SECN	L 13–24	16,500
November 21	7:00 p.m.	at No. 23 Auburn		Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL (rivalry)	ESPN	L 17–30	17,490
December 5	3:30 p.m.	No. 6 Florida		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	CBS	L 19–31	22,943
December 12	4:00 p.m.	at Vanderbilt		Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)	SECN	W 42–17	849
December 19	11:00	No. 5 Texas A&M		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN	ESPN	L 13–34	22,232
Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

The SEC postponed Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt to facilitate the rescheduling of the Vanderbilt-Missouri game. The shuffling allows for the opportunity for all 14 SEC teams to play 10 regular-season games.[9][10]

Tennessee accepted an invitation to play in the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN held on December 31, 2020, but was forced to withdraw due to head coach Pruitt and several players testing positive for COVID-19.[11][12]

Game summaries

at South Carolina

Tennessee at South Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Tennessee	7	7	10	7	31
South Carolina	7	0	14	6	27

at Williams–Brice Stadium, Columbia, SC

Date: September 26
Game time: 7:30 pm
Game weather: Cloudy, 79 °F (26 °C)
Game attendance: 15,009
Referee: Ken Williamson
TV announcers (SECN): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (color) and Alyssa Lang (sidelines)

Missouri

Missouri at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Missouri	0	6	6	0	12
#21 Tennessee	7	14	7	7	35

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 3
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Sunny, 55 °F (13 °C)
Game attendance: 21,159
Referee: Steve Marlow
TV announcers (SECN): Dave Neal (play-by-play), D. J. Shockley (color), and Dawn Davenport (sidelines)

at #3 Georgia

Tennessee at Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Tennessee	7	14	0	0	21
#3 Georgia	7	10	14	14	45

at Sanford Stadium, Athens, GA

Date: October 10
Game time: 3:30 pm
Game weather: Cloudy, 79 °F (26 °C)
Game attendance: 20,524
Referee: David Smith
TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), and Dawn Davenport (sidelines)

Kentucky

Kentucky at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Kentucky	0	17	10	7	34
#21 Tennessee	0	7	0	0	7

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 17
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Sunny, 85 °F (29 °C)
Game attendance: 22,519
Referee: Marc Curles
TV announcers (SECN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color), Cole Cubelic (sidelines)

#2 Alabama

Alabama at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Alabama	14	14	14	6	48
Tennessee	0	10	7	0	17

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 24
Game time: 3:30 p.m.
Game weather: Cloudy, 72 °F (22 °C)
Game attendance: 23,394
Referee: Alex Moore
TV announcers (CBS): Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color), Jamie Erdahl (sidelines)

at Arkansas

Tennessee at Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	3	10	0	0	13
Arkansas	0	0	24	0	24

at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, Fayetteville, AR

Date: November 7
Game time: 6:30 pm
Game weather: Clear, 57 °F (14 °C)
Game attendance: 16,500
Referee: Mark Loeffler
TV announcers (SECN): Tom Hart (play-by-play), Jordan Rodgers (color), Cole Cubelic (sidelines)

at #23 Auburn

Tennessee at Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	7	3	0	7	17
#23 Auburn	0	10	10	10	30

at Jordan–Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL

Date: November 21
Game time: 6:00 pm
Game weather: Clear, 61 °F (16 °C)
Game attendance: 17,490
Referee: David Smith
TV announcers (ESPN): Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Greg McElroy (color), Allison Williams (sidelines)

#6 Florida

Florida at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Florida	3	14	7	7	31
Tennessee	0	7	0	12	19

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: December 5
Game time: 3:30 pm
Game weather: Clear, 51 °F (11 °C)
Game attendance: 22,943
Referee: Steve Marlowe
TV announcers (CBS): Carter Blackburn (play-by-play), Aaron Murray (color), Jenny Dell (sidelines)

at Vanderbilt

Tennessee at Vanderbilt

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tennessee	7	21	7	7	42
Vanderbilt	7	3	0	7	17

at Vanderbilt Stadium, Nashville, TN

Date: December 12
Game time: 3:00 pm
Game weather: Partly cloudy, 66 °F (19 °C)
Game attendance: 849
Referee: Marc Curles
TV announcers (SECN): Taylor Zarzour (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (color) and Dawn Davenport (sidelines)

Texas A&M

Texas A&M at Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	17	0	10	34
Volunteers	7	6	0	0	13

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: December 19
Game time: Noon
Game weather: Cloudy, 38 °F (3 °C)
Game attendance: 22,645
Referee: James Carter
TV announcers (ESPN): Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (color) and Quint Kessenich (sideline)

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	25	25*	15	16	21	18	RV
Coaches	RV	RV*	17	21	20	17	RV
CFP	Not released															Not released

References

"DI Council approves football bowl eligibility requirements waiver". NCAA.org (Press release). October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
"Tennessee Football Pauses Team Activities, Completes 2020 Season". utsports.com (Press release). December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
"Indiana vs. Tennessee - Game Summary - January 2, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com.
"Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.
Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
Dellenger, Ross (7 August 2020). "SEC's New Schedule: Winners, Losers and... Mizzou". si.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
"2020 Tennessee Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2020/11/23/tennessee-football-vanderbilt-game-postponed-missouri-vandy-vols-game/6401082002/
https://www.secsports.com/schedule/football/tennessee-volunteers/_/year/2020
https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30574860/sources-tennessee-volunteers-liberty-bowl-due-covid-19-issues
https://utsports.com/news/2020/12/21/tennessee-football-pauses-team-activities.aspx

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] "DI Council approves football bowl eligibility requirements waiver". NCAA.org (Press release). October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.

[2] "Tennessee Football Pauses Team Activities, Completes 2020 Season". utsports.com (Press release). December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.

[3] "Indiana vs. Tennessee - Game Summary - January 2, 2020 - ESPN". ESPN.com.

[4] "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.

[5] Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

[6] Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

[7] Dellenger, Ross (7 August 2020). "SEC's New Schedule: Winners, Losers and... Mizzou". si.com. Retrieved 18 August 2020.

[8] "2020 Tennessee Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com.

[9] ttps://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2020/11/23/tennessee-football-vanderbilt-game-postponed-missouri-vandy-vols-game/6401082002/

[10] ttps://www.secsports.com/schedule/football/tennessee-volunteers/_/year/2020

[11] ttps://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/30574860/sources-tennessee-volunteers-liberty-bowl-due-covid-19-issues

[12] ttps://utsports.com/news/2020/12/21/tennessee-football-pauses-team-activities.aspx

Tennessee Volunteers football
Venues	Waite Field (1892–1920) Shields-Watkins Field (1921–1962) Neyland Stadium (1962–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Alabama: Third Saturday in October Auburn Florida Georgia Georgia Tech Kentucky Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	History Smokey "Rocky Top" Pride of the Southland Band Battle at Bristol Porter Cup
People	Head coaches Starting quarterbacks NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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National championship seasons in bold