Tennessee expected to have an easy time of it in Week 2 against Austin Peay. Maybe that was the problem, because the Vols looked terrible, barely keeping the Governors at arm's length in a 30-13 win over the 48-point underdogs.
A win is a win. With a trip to Florida coming up next week, Tennessee has to focus on cleaning things up and preparing for SEC play.
Head coach Josh Heupel would be wise to heed the warning signs from a game that was closer than it ever should have been. What were those?
No. 3 Tennessee football warning sign: WR sloppiness
The quarterback is a subject for later, but the Tennessee wide receivers didn't exactly make his life easier against Austin Peay.
Drops were an issue for the receiving corps throughout the game but especially early. Just about every receiver was guilty of at least one drop. The miscues put the offense on the back foot and, as the Vols would find out, getting into a groove was difficult.
Then just before the end of the third quarter, after Tennesse made it slightly more comfortable at 23-6, Ramel Keyton gave Austin Peay new life with a fumble.
The Vols need more from their receivers if the offense is ever going to live up to its potential.
No. 2 Tennessee football warning sign: Joe Milton's limitations
The thing about Joe Milton is he was Hendon Hooker's backup for a reason. Hooker turned into a Heisman Trophy candidate before long, so there was no shame in not being able to beat him out. It's just a thought that has to come to mind when watching Milton struggle to get the Tennessee offense back to the heights of his predecessor.
Milton is a fine college football quarterback, but there are still questions about whether he can elevate an offense enough to truly contend for an SEC or national title. And he does himself no favors with a performance like the one against Austin Peay.
The quarterback started the game 1-of-7. Some of those incompletions were the result of drops, but even those drops were aided by a misplaced pass or two. He settled down after the bad start but the offense still stagnated beyond a handful of promising moments.
Tennessee showed the college football world what their offense can do with a playmaker at quarterback. Milton has a lot of work to do to prove he can be that guy.
No. 1 Tennessee football warning sign: Josh Heupel's mentality
Josh Heupel is an offense-minded head coach. So offense should never be the issue for the Vols. But it was on Saturday against a vastly inferior opponent.
Austin Peay gave up 49 points in a Week 1 loss to Southern Illinois. Comparing games is a flawed tactic, but the broader point stands. The Governors do not have a special defense by any stretch of the imagination. Meanwhile, Tennessee is supposed to have one of the most unstoppable offenses in college football. SP+ had them ranked No. 1 nationally behind only USC.
It's one thing to have one sloppy quarter or even a half. It's another thing for those miscues to continue into the second half. Clemson had a tough time against Charleston Southern but they came out in the second half with the pedal to the metal, turning a 24-17 game into a 66-17 blowout.
What did Heupel do? With a mere 23-6 lead in the fourth quarter, the head coach responded to his defense getting an interception with three straight runs leading to a punt. The Governors scored a touchdown on the next possession to pull within 10.
