The Tennessee Volunteers played one of their more important games of the college football season on Saturday night, as they played one of their most important and most beneficial home games of the season, as the Tennessee Vols played against the Oklahoma Sooners. This is a game that the Vols were expected to win, but that was not the case for the game outcome, as the Vols walked away from the game with a loss. The Tennessee Volunteers lost the game in front of their home crowd, and this was their second loss in program history with their black uniforms. This is something that hasn’t been very common, but even through those superstitions, things still can go south.

This team didn’t show up the way that many hoped they would, but even in that same breath, the Oklahoma Sooners didn’t either. However, the Sooners showed up more than the Vols did, as the Vols walked away with a loss.

This performance caught the attention of many, including one of the main players who used to play for the Tennessee Volunteers. That player is Daniel Bituli, who is known for not keeping his thoughts to himself, as he isn’t afraid of letting his thoughts be known. This is something that has been noticed throughout the season with Bituli, as he made it clear how he feels during the game.

Here is what the Tennessee fan and former player had to say about the Vols during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners.

“Respectfully, some of our guys are acting soft asf.”

While this team has lost three games it is safe to say that some expectations has still been exceeded. Let’s remember that the Vols lost a lot of players to the transfer portal. One of the players being Nico Iamaleava, who was all but confirmed to be the starting QB for the Vols this season.

The Vols have been looking to improve what they have built, but the real work has yet to be finished, as this is a young team with a llot of returning pieces. The Vols have an exciting future, but they will need to continue to get better, and in the opinion of former Tennessee Volunteers linebacker Daniel Bituli, the Vols need to fix some of these acts that they have been having such as acting soft.

This is a team with a lot of positives, and some negatives to go with it, but this season if far from over as the Tennessee Vols have three regular season games and a post season bowl game ahead of them.

The margin for error is gone for both Oklahoma and Tennessee. 

The No. 14-ranked Volunteers host the No. 18 Sooners on Saturday with both teams looking to stay alive in the College Football Playoff race. 

Both programs are 6-2 overall. All losses have come in SEC play, meaning the winner on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium will still need help to get to Atlanta. But whoever emerges victorious will be in a great position when the season’s first CFP rankings drop on Tuesday. 

Brent Venables’ defense will have its hands full yet again, this time facing Josh Heupel’s offense one week after matching wits with Lane Kiffin. 

If the Sooners win these three matchups, they’ll have a great chance to notch another legendary win in Knoxville. 

Tennessee’s defense isn’t quite Alex Grinch’s “Speed D”, but Tim Banks’ unit will look familiar to OU fans. 

Given time to work in the pocket, opposing quarterbacks have shredded the Tennessee secondary.

The Vols are allowing 266.3 passing yards per game this season, which enters the week ranked 122nd in the FBS.

Teams have been able to throw and score on Tennessee, but not due to a lack of pressure. 

The Volunteers average 3.4 sacks per game, which ranks sixth in the country. 

Dominic Bailey and Joshua Josephs have done most of the damage for Tennessee this year. Bailey leads the team with 4.5 sacks, and he’s closely followed by four sacks from Josephs. 

True freshman Ryan Fodje performed admirably last week for the Sooners. When Derek Simmons went down, he bumped from guard to right tackle to make his first-career start after working for just two days at tackle. 

Across from him, fellow true freshman Michael Fasusi protects John Mateer’s blind side. 

Saturday night, Fasusi and Fodje will face a massive test. 

Not only will they be tasked with blocking productive pass rushers, they’ll have to do it in a deafening environment. 

Regardless of whether Heath Ozaeta or Eddy Pierre-Louis starts beside Fasusi, the Sooners will start a pair of underclassmen on the left side of the line. 

If OU’s line can hold up on the edge, then Mateer should have a clear enough picture to take advantage of Tennessee’s secondary. 

If not, it could be a long night for Oklahoma. 

For their part, the Volunteer offensive line has kept quarterback Joey Aguilar clean. 

The Vols are 20th in sacks allowed per game, which has helped the offense rank third in first downs per game, third in passing offense and second in scoring offense in 2025.

Oklahoma needs star defensive end R Mason Thomas to have a good night. Add in a strong showing from Taylor Wein, who continues to grow into the season, and the Sooners could put real pressure on Aguilar. 

Wein ranks second in the SEC with 11 tackles for loss and he has 3.5 sacks through eight games. 

Lance Heard has started every game at left tackle for the Volunteers this year, and while Venables moves his defensive linemen all over the field, Wein will get plenty of chances to battle Heard on Saturday night. 

Tennessee defensive back Colton Hood missed time against Kentucky due to a reported calf injury. 

He was not listed on the availability report this week, signaling he should be good to go on Saturday. 

Isaiah Sategna, Deion Burks and Javonnie Gibson will hope to test Hood and see if there are any lingering effects from the injury. 

Burks and Sategna’s speed could be crucial if Hood is half a step slow, assuming Mateer delivers the ball on time on Saturday night. 

If the OU quarterback can’t shake off last week’s poor showing against Mississippi, it might not matter who the Vols have in the secondary. 

Mateer missed plenty of open receivers in last week’s loss to the Rebels, something he hopes to make right at Neyland Stadium.