North Texas @ Tennessee preview

With two regular season SEC games remaining, Tennessee hopes to extend its two-game winning streak when non-conference opponent North Texas visits on Saturday. The Volunteers have three wins in their last four games overall and their lone blemish was a 19-14 heartbreaker against No. 4 Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Oct. 24.

Coach Butch Jones isn't looking past the Mean Green but with his team focused on a strong finish to the season, he is reflecting positively on Tennessee's progress thus far. "I think we've proven in the infant stages of our program that we're closing the gap with everyone that we play and we're getting better," Jones told reporters. The Volunteers edged past South Carolina last week 27-24, hanging onto a 17-3 lead but offensive coordinator Mike DeBord shrugged off suggestions that the offense let its foot off the gas, saying: "From my standpoint, that's really hard to tell." North Texas followed its lone win of the season, a 30-23 decision over Texas-San Antonio, by getting trounced 56-13 in a visit to Louisiana Tech last week.

TV: Noon ET, SEC Network. LINE: Tennessee -41

ABOUT NORTH TEXAS (1-8): Slow starts have doomed the Mean Green all season and after falling behind 21-0 against Louisiana Tech, coach Mike Canales emphasized taking better care of the football if the team has hopes of improvement. "You can't have turnovers," Canales told reporters. "You can't do that against a good football team." North Texas' four turnovers last week tied a season high and its three fumbles set a mark for futility on the year.

ABOUT TENNESSEE (5-4): In the win over South Carolina, the Volunteers secured the game with a big fourth quarter stop and defensive coordinator John Jancek credited his players for not letting it slip away. "Those last possessions in the final minutes of the ballgame, you have got to find a way to make the play and win," Jancek told reporters. "It was great to see us do that last week." Defensive end Derek Barnett has been a force of late, recording five sacks and six tackles for loss in his last four games.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Tennessee, which is 3-3 in the SEC, is averaging 207.3 rushing yards, ranking behind only LSU (277.3) and Georgia (208.7) among SEC teams and 29th in the nation.

2. North Texas, which is 1-5 in Conference USA, has lost 11 straight road games dating back to the start of 2014.

3. Volunteers WR Von Pearson set career marks with eight catches for 121 yards last week against South Carolina.

PREDICTION: Tennessee 51, North Texas 10