Paul Finebaum reacts to Tennessee's loss to Arkansas in Week 6

With a loss coming out of their bye week in Fayetteville this weekend, Paul Finebaum is now wondering what Tennessee is.

Finebaum questioned the Volunteers following their 19-14 loss at Arkansas during ‘The Matt Barrie Show’ on Sunday. He clearly felt that it wasn’t as stunning as what happened to ‘Bama in Nashville earlier in the night. Still, it happened nonetheless and they just weren’t able to score enough to make sure that it didn’t.

“I didn’t predict this one right either but let me tell you. This was easier to see because you just had this nagging feeling that that’s a nasty place to be at night,” said Finebaum. “12 o’clock in the afternoon? No. It proved to be.”

“Against Arkansas? It wasn’t going to take much to beat them. Just manufacture some points and they couldn’t do it,” Finebaum said.

With that, Finebaum thinks there was too much hype around Tennessee considering their actual resumé. They blew out two mid-majors by nearly 70 apiece, handled NC State, who’s now 3-3, by 41, and beat a decent team in Oklahoma on the road. However, after this, none of that looks as notable as it did at the end of September.

“This Tennessee team that we bought because they beat an absolutely miserable NC State team and a good Oklahoma team just nowhere to be found? Nico looked like a young player, not a Heisman candidate that so many tried to make him out to be,” said Finebaum. “It feels a little aberrational.”

“We’re now finally at the point where we quit making these rash judgments. We did about Tennessee,” Finebaum stated. “It was easy to do. The NC State game was a fraud because there was nothing to be learned. I thought winning at Norman really told us a lot about this program. Now? No.”

The Vols are still in the Top-10 despite the loss to the ‘Hogs. Even so, it’s not going to get any simpler for them from here, especially over the next few games that’ll be a home-heavy schedule for them on Rocky Top.

“Usually, in most years, this would be possibly a bye week or something. It’s not. Tennessee has Florida,” said Finebaum. “At this point, you don’t really know what you’re doing. Your program has just taken a shock.”