No. 6 Tennessee picked up another Top 25 win on Tuesday night in Knoxville with a 68-56 win over No. 14 Mississippi State in the Food City Center.

Tennessee jumped out to a sizeable lead in the first half as the Vols’ defense made life miserable for the Bulldogs’ offense. By the end of the first 20-minute period, Mississippi State had only scored 16 points.

While the Bulldogs did make a nice comeback to start the second half with 15 points in the first five minutes, Tennessee was also to keep their opponent down with a 23-point showing from senior guard Chaz Lanier. Tennessee also picked up 20 combined points from Jordan Gainey and Jahmai Mashack while Felix Okpara finished with nine points and 12 rebounds.

Tennessee totaled more rebounds, assists, and had fewer turnovers than Mississippi State on Tuesday night – a recipe for success.

More from RTI: Three Quick Takeaways As Tennessee Coasts Past Mississippi State For Ranked Win

Check out the RTI: Reaction show with RTI’s Ryan Schumpert and Ric Butler below:

It doesn’t take long to flip the page in the world of college football.

Despite the 2024-25 college football season closing down last night with Ohio State’s national championship win over Notre Dame, folks around the industry are already flipping the page to the 2025-2026 season.

Tennessee enters the offseason with a fair number of departures but has also added a handful of nice pieces including Duke running back Star Thomas, Arizona offensive lineman Wendell Moe Jr., and Alabama wide receiver Amari Jefferson. The Vols return some key players such as quarterback Nico Iamaleava and cornerback Jermod McCoy but, like any team, have questions to answer this offseason.

Josh Heupel’s group accomplished a program-first feat by reaching the college football playoffs last season but even with a road loss to the eventual national champions, there’s still work to be done for Tennessee to take that next step – both on and off the field.

ESPN’s Chris Low looks at Tennessee’s road woes as an opportunity for improvement as the Vols head into the 2025 season.

“The schedule gets a little more difficult with road games at Florida and Alabama, while Georgia comes to Knoxville. The next step for this program is playing better and more consistently on the road against quality teams,” Low wrote for ESPN. “The Vols have lost 22 in a row against top-10 teams on the road. So winning one of two in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa would go a long way toward opening up a pathway to the playoff. But at least nine wins seems realistic, which would be the fourth straight season hitting that mark under Heupel.”

More on RTI: Tennessee Football Falls In Final AP Poll Of 2024-25 Season

As mentioned, Tennessee’s got some big road challenges coming up next fall. That includes at Alabama, at Kentucky, and at Florida as the big three road rivals from the SEC. Alabama and Florida initially present a bigger challenge than Kentucky but the Vols will still need to handle business in Lexington to keep the train moving.

As far as on-the-field conversations go, Low believes that “maintaining that same depth will be key” on the defensive line for Tennessee.

“The Vols’ strength this season was their defensive line,” Low writes. “With some of the top performers and leaders from the unit departing, developing some of the younger ones and keeping that same mindset up front defensively will be vital if the Vols are going to make another playoff run.”

While some of the wind may have been taken out of the sails after the blowout loss to Ohio State, Tennessee still projects to have a Top 20 to Top 15 team in the nation heading into the 2025 season. Excitement from the fanbase will inevitably continue to ramp up throughout the spring and summer, too.

There are a lot of conversations to be had this offseason but Low presents two solid improvement opportunities for Tennessee to look at in the coming months as the Vols aim to take that next step next fall.

We’ll be having those conversations every week from now until the start of the football season on Aug. 30 in Atlanta against Syracuse. Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee news, notes, and coverage throughout the offseason.

The Tennessee Titans actually find themselves in a rather solid financial situation heading into the NFL offseason, as they are projected to have around $50 million in cap room.

Still, that does not mean the Titans will not try to trim some salary.

Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine ran through a few potential cut candidates for Tennessee, and edge rusher Harold Landry made the list.

“Harold Landry’s nine sacks this season obscured the waning production that more advanced stats show,” Ballentine wrote. “In his second full season back from a torn ACL, Landry actually registered a career-low 9.2 pressure rate, per Sports Info Solutions. His final pre-injury season saw him rack up 62 total pressures as opposed to the 33 he had this season. Those underlying numbers point toward a player who is slowing down.”

Cutting Landry would save the Titans a hefty $24.9 million in cap room, so it’s certainly possible that this is an avenue they could pursue. There were even rumors back at the trade deadline that Landry could be moved.

As Ballentine noted, Landry posted some impressive surface-level stats this season, racking up 71 tackles, nine sacks and four passes defended. However, he logged a subpar 49.6 pass-rushing grade over at Pro Football Focus, indicating that the veteran may be declining.

The 28-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Boston College, was selected by the Titans in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

It didn’t take Landry long to establish himself as one of Tennessee’s premier defenders, as he posted 68 tackles and nine sacks as soon as his second season.

Landry also made the Pro Bowl in 2021 after racking up 75 stops and 12 sacks, but tore his ACL the following year. He bounced back nicely in 2023, finishing with 70 tackles and 10.5 sacks, but the rebuilding Titans may want to part ways with Landry to save a nice wad of cash.

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