Paul Finebaum says Tennessee is “clearly in the playoffs” after beating Oklahoma

Paul Finebaum has been excited about what he's seen from Tennessee so far this season. On Monday morning, he talked about Tennessee's outlook for the rest of the year with McElroy and Cubelic.

The Vols are 4-0 with wins over Oklahoma and NC State and recently defeated the Sooners 25-15 in their SEC opener in Norman. But while Tennessee has been a dominant force on offense under Heupel, this year's edition has relied on its defensive prowess.

Finebaum believes this jump in defense puts the Vols firmly in the national title race and has them “clearly” in the 12-team field for the College Football Playoffs.

“I thought they were a mediocre team, maybe 9-3 with a surprise 10-2, but they would need a big upset,” Finebaum said Monday. “Now I think they're clearly in the playoffs, and we're not talking about a one-time opportunity. This is a team that can play in January, which means they're a national championship contender.”

“What stands out to me even more in the two biggest games so far … they made mistakes on offense,” he continued. “Fumbles, bad decisions, but they survived them thanks to the defense. I'll spare the audience the cliches, but defense like that can take you far, especially when you have players in the best positions on offense, which they do. If they can start avoiding their mistakes, this is going to be a tough team to beat.”

The mistakes he's referring to are primarily penalties. The Vols committed 10 total penalties against Oklahoma, while the Sooners committed only 3. A majority of those penalties were committed by special teams.

As for Finebaum's point about the offense, it's a tough situation. Tennessee was missing its two best tackles against the Sooners, and QB Nico Iamaleava was sacked twice early against a strong Oklahoma defensive line. Considering the experience level in pass defense, the Vols played very conservatively on offense against Oklahoma — especially in the second half with a three-possession lead.

After a week off, the Vols will be back in action on October 5 against Arkansas.