Now we know. These Volunteers are totally unpredictable. Maybe yes, maybe no. Almost anything could happen in five of the six remaining games.

I doubt that this is a championship team but it does have grit, determination and perseverance. It will not flee from a fight even though the defense may not be good enough to win.

Tennessee, exciting instead of impressive, defeated reconstructed Arkansas, 34-31. It was that close. The Vols had a 17-point lead but the Razorbacks scored twice in the fourth quarter. Tennessee did have the ball in the late minutes and ran out the clock.

Offensive statistics were near even. Strangely enough, defensive plays proved to be the winning edge – five sacks, nine tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.

If you are keeping score, the Vols gave up 496 yards, had a terrible time on third downs and transformed converted sinner Bobby Petrino into the interim coach of the week.

The winners were flagged 10 times for violations, the losers twice. One penalty was rejected. Absolutely amazing that a reconfigured coaching staff could instill team discipline in such a short time.

The Vols are 5-1 and 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference. They go to Tuscaloosa on the third Saturday in October to play 5-1 and 3-0 Alabama in their version of the Super Bowl.

What Josh Heupel said after the Razorbacks went away applies to the Tide.

“Margins are small in this league. You’re playing like talent every single week. A play here, a play there changes the way the game is played.”

The early betting line favors Alabama by 8.5 points. Tennessee was favored by 12 over Arkansas. The Razorbacks missed that underdog message.

“We went into the game saying, hey, man, we’re going to be real aggressive,” said Petrino. “I thought our players really competed hard. We were well prepared. We played physical, we played tough. Tennessee is a good football team.”

Arkansas running back Mike Washington made the UT bulletin board early last week when he said, after video study, there were a lot of holes in the Vol defense. He illustrated his point – a 38-yard run on the first play of the game. Washington had 131 on 19 carries.

Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop topped that – 146 on just 14 carries. Joey Aguilar completed 16 of 25 for 221 yards and a touchdown and ran five times for 59 yards.

Our Joey Football made a winning play in the closing minutes, a run up the middle for 28 when Tennessee needed it to maintain possession.

Rival quarterback Taylen Green passed for 256 yards and two TDs, ran for 98 but lost 35 on sacks and fumbled three times. Green did run to convert two long third downs and was 7-for-9 passing on third downs.

“Well, the quarterback gets out of pocket, makes some big plays in long yardage,” said Heupel. “We were there at times to make the play and he makes the play. We made it tougher than it needed to be.”

“I feel like we didn’t play to the standard that we could play,” linebacker Arion Carter said.

“I don’t like giving up yards at all and I know as a defense we are way better than that,” said defensive end Joshua Josephs.

Not incidentally, Joseph’s fourth-quarter hit on Green caused a fumble that freshman Jadon Perlotte recovered. That led to a touchdown.

Twice Vols snuffed out Arkansas threats. Safety Edrees Farooq knocked the ball loose to stop one at the UT 14. The Razorbacks tried for a first down on fourth and three at the UT 25. Green threw incomplete because of pressure from Edwin Spillman and Jalen McMurray.

“Obviously the turnovers ended up killing us,” said Petrino. “And then I made the decision to go for it instead of kicking the field goal, and that ended up killing us, too.”

Bits ‘n pieces: Spillman was ejected for targeting and will miss the first half at Alabama … Peyton Lewis scored two touchdowns … slot receiver Braylon Staley had six catches for 109 … Chris Brazzell had one drop and one reception for five yards … Max Gilbert kicked a 50-yard field goal … Daevin Hobbs finally got to play after recovering from injury and contributed five tackles including a sack for minus 11 … Arkansas won time of possession 35-25.

Ty Simpson

Alabama QB Ty Simpson is the new name in Heisman Trophy talk. He was 23 of 31 for 200 and three TDs in the 27-24 victory at Missouri. He had two fourth-down conversions on what turned out to be the winning drive.

Tennessee can help or hurt Ty’s Heisman chances.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinw00est75@gmail.com