Tennessee's Showing vs. Oklahoma Should Give Vols Fans Faith

Despite the lopsided final deficit, two crushing interceptions in the end zone and an offensive line performance that left quarterback Justin Worley a walking bruise, Tennessee's direction was evident against Oklahoma.

The Volunteers are getting better in a hurry.

Head coach Butch Jones' youthful team isn't anywhere near where it wants to be yet, but the Vols battled all night at Memorial Stadium before succumbing 34-10 against the fourth-ranked Sooners.

As a matter of fact, there were several ulcer-inducing moments for Oklahoma well into the fourth quarter. 

Despite getting blitzed on the scoreboard early and blitzed by the Sooners' sterling defense throughout the game, the Vols kept clawing. That resilient mentality evident in such an inexperienced team was not lost on anybody who watched the game, including a skeptical national media.

The Vols created several huge opportunities for themselves. Like many young teams, though, they just couldn't capitalize.

Even so, the game wasn't completely in hand for the Sooners until there was about 10 minutes remaining.

Trailing 27-10, Tennessee moved the ball deep into Sooners territory. The Vols faced a 3rd-and-2 from Oklahoma's 4-yard line when Worley tried to make something happen, forcing the ball into double coverage.

A hundred yards later, Julian Wilson had a game-clinching pick-six that ended what slim hopes UT may have had for pulling off an upset.

That play may have squelched the night's hope, but not the season's—or the program's.

If anything, the Vols have to be encouraged by a young team that battled adversity and kept forcing chances.

The Sooners turned UT away with two end-zone picks, but that shouldn't undermine Worley's gutsy performance. Despite being battered and beaten by OU's relentless pursuit, the senior quarterback hung in tough and kept getting up off the ground.

Once, he even looked like he could have been concussed when his head bounced against the turf, but he was right back in the huddle the next series and finished 21-of-44 for 201 yards and a score.

Anybody with questions about Worley as UT's quarterback should have had them answered Saturday.

Also, Tennessee's young defense may have had its share of busted coverages and big plays allowed, but it also kept the Vols close for much of the game by forcing turnovers and bending more often than breaking when the Vols' stagnant offense kept giving it a short field.

Though it looked like the Vols would be blown out early, they weathered a 13-0 Oklahoma flurry to start the game and cut the lead to six late in the second quarter when a questionable call really changed momentum.

OU freshman running back Samaje Perine appeared to lose possession of the ball on the UT 26-yard line, pinning it against his side. Vols cornerback Cameron Sutton recovered the would-be fumble, but after the review, officials deemed Perine was down.

Three plays later, OU scored another touchdown to take a 20-7 halftime lead.

It was that kind of night for the Vols, who did enough to keep the game respectable but were simply outclassed and unlucky. UT didn't do itself any favors, either.

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Worley was sacked five times by the Sooners and hurried or hit on several other dropbacks. The offensive line had no answer for Eric Striker and an Oklahoma front seven that was breathing down Worley's neck within a couple of seconds after the snap.

Freshman right tackle Coleman Thomas made his first career start and struggled. So did freshman tight end Daniel Helm, who also had his issues in protection. They weren't alone as Oklahoma applied pressure on Worley from every direction.

Tennessee's biggest weakness entering the game was exposed by the Sooners defense.

The Vols had minus-14 total rushing yards until Jalen Hurd broke free for a 43-yard run in the third quarter. Until that burst, the offensive line simply failed to open any holes for Tennessee running backs.

Like the prevailing theme of the night, however, Tennessee got better.

The Vols finished with a paltry 112 rushing yards, led by Hurd's 97 yards on 14 carries, but that's not awful considering where they were so late in the game. For an offense that struggled for much of three quarters, to begin to find some positive things in the run game was important.

Many times it looked like Oklahoma would demoralize the Vols, but a team that has already played 22 freshmen this year never got embarrassed. 

A 24-point setback (three more than the Oddsshark.com closing line) was not what the Vols wanted, and there have been so many losses lately that moral victories cease to exist. But there were building blocks between the bumps and bruises.

This team is going to take its lumps, but in an SEC East that appears wide open, a talented group of youngsters with as much fight as Tennessee showed Saturday night can make some noise. 

Junior offensive tackle Kyler Kerbyson was impressed with his youthful teammates.

The Vols may not play a better team all season than they did on Saturday against the deep, talented, disruptive Sooners. They traveled to Norman with two offensive weapons in Von Pearson and Ethan Wolf never leaving the sideline, weathered some serious storms and got in some punches.

It wasn't nearly enough, but nobody really expected it would be.

Bob Stoops has built an impressive program at OU over the course of his career, and Jones is just starting to construct his at Tennessee.

For extended periods of time on Saturday, the Vols showed they're on the right track.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics gathered from UTSports.com and observations obtained firsthand. All recruiting information from 247Sports.

Brad Shepard covers SEC football and is the Tennessee Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow Brad on Twitter here:

@Brad_Shepard