Week 2 was supposed to be a walk in the park for the Tennessee Volunteers. Austin Peay came in as a 48-point underdog. It was supposed to be a question of how much Tennessee would win by, not whether they would win at all.
The Governors had other ideas in the first half. And if you ask some Tennessee fans, so did the refs.
The Volunteers struggled to move the ball in the first half. Quarterback Joe Milton started 1-of-7. Tennessee scored six points on their first five drives. A late touchdown drive just before the game went to halftime broke the deadlock to make it 13-6
Who is to blame for the troubling showing? The message boards had their sights on the ACC refereeing crew.
Tennessee fans blame the refs for first half struggles vs. Austin Peay
Those fans weren't alone. Twitter was also full of officiating complaints.
Austin Peay had three penalties for 25 yards in the first half. Tennessee had five for 55. So there wasn't a huge discrepancy in thrown flags. It was the ones that weren't thrown that pissed off Vols fans.
The instinct to blame the refs when things aren't going your way is natural. But this is also Tennessee, the No. 9 team in the land, and Austin Peay we're talking about. The refs could all be Austin Peay alumni with an ax to grind and the Vols should still be winning by three touchdowns.
Something looks very wrong with the Tennessee offense. Maybe it's a Milton issue. His early inefficiency was a problem. On the plus side, he was much more effective on the final drive and rushed. Maybe it's a receiver problem. They dropped passes like they were the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.
Whatever it is, the second half needs to be much cleaner from Josh Heupel's crew, with or without referee interference.
