no. I think coming into the season, 9-10 wins was probably their ceiling. They were returning a good chunk of a top 10 scoring offense from last year and a pretty lousy defense. The defense has improved (from 29.1 PPG (90th) in 2021 to 25.6 in 2022 (61st)), but it was still faulty. The offense went from 7th in PPG (39.3) to leading the country this year (46.5 PPG). Even with a faulty defense they've still got one of the best scoring margins in the country (5th at +18.9).
I would have expected losses to UGA/Bama and maybe another one sprinkled in (I would have guessed UK or LSU), but they were able to pull it off against Bama and routed LSU in their own stadium. They also blew out a rival (normally beating UK wouldn't mean a lot, but they've been a respectable program the last 6 years) and beat UF (only their 2nd win over the Gators since 2004). This is only UT's third 9 win season since the Fulmer era, and if they notch another win it would be their first since 2007. The USC loss is bad, but it shouldn't sour what's been a very good season for a program that hasn't had many very good seasons in recent memory. There will be work to do next year, though. That secondary still needs a lot of work and they have to replace Hooker/Hyatt (unless the latter stays another year, but he's a projected first rounder) on offense. I had high hopes for Milton at Michigan, I'll still be rooting for him in UT next year!
