Tennessee Football: 2014 Season in Review

The Tennessee Volunteers 2014 season has to be graded as a successful one, even by the most cynical fans. The team lost its entire offensive and defensive lines to graduation, experienced tons of injuries at its deepest position of wide receiver and played more true freshmen than anyone in the country.

And yet, the overall goal of getting to the postseason and winning was achieved. In dominating fashion, the Vols topped the Iowa Hawkeyes 45-28 in the TaxSlayer Bowl.

Such a strong finish to the season has fans and analysts alike wondering what Tennessee's ceiling is for 2015. But before we move on to early prognostication for Butch Jones' third year, let's take a look back at the season that was.

Freshmen Everywhere

USA TODAY Sports

The Tennessee Vols played 23 true freshmen, the most in all of the Football Bowl Subdivision. It truly was baptism by fire, but the experience will be invaluable in future years.

It was interesting to see the wide range of responses to such significant playing time. There were players like Jalen Hurd and Derek Barnett, who embraced their starting roles and were immediately the best at their respective positions.

Hurd led the Volunteers with 899 rushing yards and 190 carries. His long, lean frame duped defenders into thinking he might be easy to take down. They were dead wrong. Barnett set freshmen school records left and right, including most tackles for loss (20.5) and most sacks (10), which immediately vaulted his name among the likes of John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth and Reggie White.

Then you had players who struggled. Josh Malone showed some flashes in 2014, including an excellent five-catch, 75-yard performance at Ole Miss. But nagging injuries, the SEC grind and some mental errors stalled his growth around midseason.

Still there were other cases of players who steadily improved throughout the season like Emmanuel Moseley. Moseley slowly picked up playing time until his first start against Kentucky in mid-November. He leapfrogged higher-rated recruits, proving again that the recruiting stars only take you so far.

For the first time in years, it's apparent that Tennessee has laid the groundwork for four years down the road.

Missing Seniors

John Raoux/Associated Press

What a roller coaster this season was for UT's seniors.

Justin Worley started out the season completing 60 percent of his passes, while throwing for 246 yards and over two touchdowns per game and less than one interception. His 264-yard, three-touchdown performance in a close loss at Georgia is likely his best game as a Vol.

For whatever reason, that's where the success ended for the South Carolina native. The Florida loss was ugly, the UT-Chattanooga win was unfulfilling and Ole Miss ended his season and career on Rocky Top. Still, Worley's guidance remained a constant, helping Josh Dobbs navigate the waters as the unquestioned starter.

A.J. Johnson's leadership and enthusiasm was contagious. You could see how much he loved playing the game with these teammates and for those coaches on kickoffs, when he created a pretty entertaining routine. In 10 games, he amassed 101 tackles, including his first career interception. His pace would have gotten him the tackles crown in the SEC for 2014.

Unfortunately, the only thing that could have derailed him, did—himself. Johnson was accused of rape in November, ending his Tennessee career and potentially more if the charges turn out to be true.

Finally, the grit and determination of former walk-on and fifth-year senior Jacob Gilliam is never going to be forgotten in Knoxville. It's the kind of stuff that will get him a longstanding ovation when he comes back to midfield one day. And to think that no one knew his name one year ago...

Gilliam was named the starting left tackle at the beginning of the season and promptly tore his ACL in the first game. This is almost always a season-ending injury, but he rehabbed his knee and returned to his starting role less than two months later.

He later broke his hand in bowl practice but didn't let that stop him from helping lead the Vols to a dominating win over Iowa. Gilliam is certainly the definition of a VFL.

Wide Receiver Triage

USA TODAY Sports

If you had to point to one strength entering the 2014 season, you would have been well within your right to go with the wide receivers. Besides returning such stars as Marquez North and Pig Howard, the Vols were adding Von Pearson, Josh Malone and Vic Wharton. Jason Croom had emerged in 2013, and Ryan Jenkins was coming back from injury. Josh Smith had improved more than any receiver year over year.

The receivers were loaded.

And then the injuries hit. North really wasn't himself the whole year, and Smith's season stopped after Oklahoma. Malone was dinged-up from day one, and Pearson got a bad ankle sprain while blocking for a runner. Croom joined the injury club when we went down after the Vanderbilt game.

Howard stood out as an extremely tough constant in the lineup for whomever was throwing for Tennessee. Tight end Ethan Wolf was able to get some serious playing time as a pass-catcher due to injury, and Wharton and Jenkins even got in the mix in their first playing seasons.

Ultimately, the injuries of 2014 helped build depth for Tennessee. But it will be imperative that North, Smith and Croom come back strong from their injuries if the Volunteers hope to live up to their "sexy pick" status of SEC East champs in 2015.

2015 Season Looks Good

USA TODAY Sports

There are a number of outlets calling Tennessee a serious contender for the SEC East next year. The hype is probably warranted, but there's no doubt the Volunteers have a long way to go.

The team must end the streaks of Florida and Missouri. Both are road games next season, so this will be a big challenge. However, with the most returning starters in the SEC, the Vols finally have a meaningful advantage over these opponents.

Maintaining offseason momentum via recruiting isn't a bad way to enter 2015, either. With the recent commitment of Kyle Phillips joining such studs as Kahlil McKenzie, Shy Tuttle, Preston Williams and others, Butch Jones and his staff are once again reeling in the nation's best.

With fun, winnable matchups against non-annual opponents like Oklahoma and Arkansas, the success of the Volunteers is finally up to how well they play instead of myriad off-field issues.