Tennessee picked up a dominating win over the Syracuse Orange on Saturday, and the offense was hitting on all cylinders for the Vols. Tennessee put up 45 points and nearly 500 yards of total offense. It was the most well-balanced attack you will find from yesterday. The Vols threw for 247 yards and ran for 246 yards. The dynamic duo of Star Thomas and DeSean Bishop was on full display as they did a great job of complementing each other. Thomas rushed for 92 yards and a receiving touchdown. Bishop rushed for 82 yards and a touchdown and added 44 receiving yards. Both running backs averaged over seven yards per carry.
Despite the win, the Vols fell in the latest ESPN FPI rankings. Now the fall isn’t drastic, but they did fall a spot in the rankings. A team that catapulted past them was the USC Trojans, who moved up eight spots after their 73-13 win over Missouri State. It is interesting because the quality of the opponent both teams just played, and the Vols beat a 10-win team from a year ago.
There were a few changes compared to earlier in the week, according to the analytics model, after the victory for the Vols. Tennessee improved its chances to make the playoffs from 42.4% to 49.9% compared to earlier in the week. Their chances to win the SEC conference also saw a nice climb to 8.6%. ESPN FPI also gave the Vols some love on making the national championship game with a 9.5% chance after their victory on Saturday…