When Tennessee faces off against Arkansas on Saturday night in Fayetteville, they will be presented with a different challenge. Tennessee’s first two big games this season (NC State and Oklahoma) were highly discussed and anticipated matchups. Yes, I’m aware that NC State has looked horrible since the matchup in Charlotte, but heading into the matchup NC State was ranked and Tennessee was never going to overlook them. At any rate, Tennessee decisively took care of business in both games, but now they will be playing a team in Arkansas that isn’t expected to give them a huge challenge.

The Vols are big-time road favorites and Arkansas is, objectively, a far less talented team than Tennessee. However, games aren’t decided based on projections and star rankings. Tennessee will have to go out and earn it on Saturday night without the added motivation of playing against a ranked opponent and don’t forget it is always a challenge to win on the road in the SEC unless you’re playing Vanderbilt.

This is a chance for Heupel to show off the culture in his program. Will Tennessee win comfortably even when the matchup isn’t a marquee one? Or will they let Arkansas hang around and raise the collective heart rates of Vol Nation? So far this year the culture in the program looks to be as healthy as ever, and with leaders on both sides of the ball like Nico Iamaleava and Keenan Pili, I think the Vols won’t have any issues with motivation. Also with the Vol’s having played in a tough environment already this season, there shouldn’t be any surprises. Just tune out the incessant (and supremely disturbing) Calling of the Hogs by the Arkansas faithful, and focus on the task at hand.