Meet the Opponent: 3 Things To Know About the Tennessee Volunteers

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The folks who jump the gun on bowl projections in September would have never guessed that Tennessee would be Indiana's opponent in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Thursday night. And with good reason.

During the first month of the season, the Volunteers were the laughingstock of college football. They opened the season by losing 38-30 at home to Georgia State, which entered the game as a 25-point underdog. Then they lost again the next week to BYU and was 1-4 after by Oct. 5.

But now here they are, 7-5 overall after winning their last five games and confident that they are a much better team than Indiana. Despite posting a 7-17 record in the SEC in the past three years, the Vols are confident that they are back.

It's been quite the journey for Jeremy Pruitt's team this season. Here are three things you need to know.

1. Bouncing back from horrific start

There were a lot of Vols fans who were ready for Pruitt to get fired after that terrible and embarrassing start, even just 17 games into his career in Knoxville. What's amazing is that Pruitt, a first-time head coach, was able to keep this team together.

"When you believe in your plan, which our coaching staff absolutely does, our players do, you know, you've got to figure out what you're doing the right way and where you're not doing things the way you want to get it done,'' Pruitt said Wednesday in the final news conference before Thursday night's game (7 p.m. ET; TV: ESPN). "So you've got to look in the mirror, and I feel like our staff did, our players did, and everybody said, how can I do better?

"It's easy to always point the finger to somebody else, and the men on our staff, the men on our team, did not do that. They figured out, how can each one of them improve specifically, and that's something that we did and we stuck together,''

Tennessee lost to then No. 1-ranked Alabama 35-13 on Oct. 19, but hasn't lost since, running the table with wins over South Carolina, UAB, Kentucky, Missouri and Vanderbilt. Just like that, they finished third in the SEC East and were bowl eligible.

"We didn't panic because we knew there was a lot of football left in the season,'' Tennessee senior wide receiver Marquez Callaway said. "We still had seven, eight games left, so if we worried about the past, we would never be here in the future. We just stayed the course and let everything play out the way it was and buy in to what Coach and them were saying.

"I think the young guys wanted us to go out the right way, and everybody bought in and knew what they was supposed to do.''

2. Beleaguered QB Guarantano bounces back

Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Gurantano might be the most despised QB in Vols history, but he's practically become a fan favorite overnight thanks to his toughness during this season turnaround.

Guarantano broke his left (non-throwing) hand in the Oct. 26 win against South Carolina, but had surgery and shockingly returned a week later and came to the rescue after young QBs Brian Maurer and J.T. Shrout struggled at times. Guarantano threw for a career-high 415 yards on Nov. 23 against Missouri. He says he's healthy and good to go Thursday against Indiana.

It feels a lot better, a lot more mobile,” Guarantano told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “I’m able to hold the ball with my left hand.”

He added that he’s “still a little banged up. I was a little nervous having it off for a little bit,” Guarantano said. “I had a lot of damage in there, a lot of screws. Having it off feels a lot better, and I should be all right for the game.”

Guarantano, a redshirt junior from Lodi, N.J. who played at Bergen Catholic High School, was a sought-after recruit, a 4-star considered one of the best dual-threat QBs in the country. Finally, four years later, he's finding his groove and will be a big challenge for Indiana.

3. Respect for Indiana's offense

Tennessee and Indiana don't ever play each other, so familiarity is an issue. Based on film only, Pruitt is impressed with what he sees on film of Indiana's offense.

"To start with offensively, they very well-coached,'' Pruitt said. "They are balanced, and they create a lot of mismatches. They've got playmakers on the outside and they find ways to get the tight ends the ball. They have won games a lot of different ways, but they have a very good imagination when it comes to their offensive philosophy,

Pruitt said he was impressed that Indiana offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer decided to stick around for the bowl game, even after being named the head coach at Fresno State. He can tell he's done a great job with this offense, led currently by Peyton Ramsey.

Tennessee's defense has gotten much before of the course of the season, too. They allowed only 14.2 points per game during that five-game winning streak.

"We just bought into the season,'' senior Daniel Bituli said. "We knew those previous games, we beat ourselves in a lot of ways. If we went out there and eliminated the mental mistakes and communicated as much as possible presnap and post snap, it would all take care of itself

"We started doing that, and because of that, we had the success we had the rest of the season.''

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