Saturdays In The Fall - Tennessee vs. Alabama

The third Saturday in October. Which actually is now technically the forth Saturday in October. Either way, this is one of the most storied rivalries in college football and the older I get the more I am beginning to appreciate the opportunities I get to witness it live. It was a no brainer then that I had to jump on the chance to head down to Tuscaloosa with a couple of my friends to watch Tennessee take on the Crimson Tide in Bryant Denny. I had been down once before and all I remember was how much the Alabama fans A) loved and worshiped Bear Bryant and B) were incredibly awful hosts. That was when they were bad. I could only imagine what it was going to be like now that they were good.

Jordan and Phil met me at my apartment around 9 and we were on our way to watch either one of the biggest losses in Tennessee history, or one of the biggest upsets. We stopped in Birmingham for some ribs at Dreamland BBQ then back on the road we went. When we got to Tuscaloosa I was pretty floored with how evident the damage from the tornado was even 6 months after it had ripped through in April. there was a very clear path leveled through the middle of Tuscaloosa.

We drove right down the middle of University Blvd. and caught plenty of stink eyes seeing as how we had our Tennessee flags flying from the car. I feel comfortable in saying that we were three of the bravest souls there for about 30 minutes. We parked about 6 blocks away from the stadium and to my surprise the first Alabama fan we came in contact with was extremely inviting and just when I began to debate if I had fallen into some type of paradox, another Alabama fan went out of his way to welcome us to town and wished us well. Surely the rapture was next, as the lamb was laying down with the lion. It didn't take long for things to change. Shortly after these encounters we made our way to Denny Chimes and I got separated from Jordan and Phil. I asked a fan who was tailgating with his friends if I could cut through in order to catch up. He said sure but after I did this another one of his buddies made it very clear he was unhappy with my action. After cussing me out and threatening my face, I told him he didn't have the intestinal fortitude to back up his threats.

I will say, Alabama's campus is surprisingly beautiful. Very obvious that it is southern.

It was finally time for the game to start, and it couldn't have started any better. Alabama got the ball to start the game, then out of no where Austin Johnson intercepted an AJ McCarron pass and Tennessee was in business. Parlady kicked a field goal and Tennessee was on the board first. That's right. Tennessee was leading the Alabama Crimson Tide. In order for Alabama to win this game they were going to have to come back and win. If I wasn't sitting in the stratosphere I would have taken a picture but the scoreboard was about a half mile away so it was not happening.

Alabama answered with two field goals but with about three minutes to go in the half Parlady hit his second field goal of the game, this time from 52 yards out. Tennessee was doing something to Alabama that no one has been able to do all year, be within 14 points of them at halftime. The score was 6-6 going into the break. The Pride of the Southland Band won the halftime battle by performing the circle drill. That is always a crowd favorite.

The best part is leaving the field in the form of a giant Power T.

Alabama came out looking like the team we all knew they were. What surprised me more than anything was after they scored their first touchdown, some random Alabama girl ran up about 6 rows, got in my face throwing the bird, and cussed me out. I had never met her before in my life, and she passed 6 rows of Vol fans to get to me. I must have really made an impression on her. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever witnessed in my life. The assault of points continued and after the Tennessee defense looked so good in the first half, the Vols looked equally terrible in the second. Alabama dominated in every facet of the game during the second half. The final score was 37-6 meaning Alabama covered the spread. Jordan, Phil, and I all left the stadium defeated.

More Alabama high jinx ensued as while we were walking down the ramp with the 99,000 other people that were at the game, one Alabama fan decided Jordan wasn't moving fast enough for him and ran right up his back, then informed him he should walk instead of texting. Where do you want us to go Usain Bolt. We can only move as fast as the people in front of us. While walking down University some Alabama sorostitutes made it known that they could not wait for the puke orange to be out of their city. News flash hun, we are even more eager to be out of this crap hole. Glad we are back in Knoxville for the next two weeks. Fayetteville looms.

Every time I see the Alabama state flag, I wonder how long it took some of Alabama's finest to think of that design. "Guys, I got it! A red x!"

Saturdays In The Fall - LSU vs. Tennessee

This was the start of the two week gauntlet. First Tennessee was taking on the top team in the country with LSU coming into Knoxville, then traveled to face the second best team in the country in Tuscaloosa. Three of our top players were missing after Janzen Jackson was dismissed from the team and then Justin Hunter being injured and lost for the year. Follow that with the Tyler Bray injury and you had a recipe for a terrible outcome for Tennessee.

The more I started thinking about the game, the more I started to think about how during every national championship season there is always that one game that is close one you should have won bigger or the game where the team you lost to had no business being in the game. Why couldn't that be us? Why not now? The closer it got to kickoff, the more I honestly started to truly believe that at the end of the game I would be on the field helping to rip down the goal posts. It is frustrating to see the team you love have so much talent only to not have the depth and experience to close games out. The first quarter couldn't have started any better, and it only gave me hope that maybe this could happen. However Matt Simms threw and interception that was returned 95 yards to the Tennessee to set up a Jarrett Lee pass to Reuben Randle for a touchdown, putting LSU ahead 7 - 0 early in the 1st.

No matter how hype you are coming out of the tunnel, you still have to play the game. Sometimes the emotion just isn't enough.

LSU put another touchdown on the board after Tennessee had a three and out. Jarrett Lee found Spencer Ware for the touchdown this time and it looked as though Tennessee was starting to fade. Things looked to have taken a turn for the worse when LSU intercepted another Simms pass but luckily wasn't able to capitalize and the Vols came out on the next drive and surprised everyone. Tennessee had a 12 play drive that consisted of 8 running plays and covered 80 yards. FINALLY Tennessee had something that resembled a running game. Unfortunately that joy was short lived as LSU was able to close out the first half by driving down the field seemingly with ease, kicking a field goal to take a 17-7 lead into the locker room for halftime.

Things didn't get any better in the second half. LSU opened with a scoring drive that was highlighted by Jordan Jeffereson's first appearance in this game and capped off by Spencer Ware punching it in from a yard out. Tennessee tried to answer but after a Matt Simms pass fell incomplete, Matt Darr pinned the Tigers down at the LSU one yard line. LSU proceeded to absolutely define the term "cramming it down their throat." The Tigers went 99 yards in 17 plays without completing a pass making the score 31-7 Tigers and essentially ending the game. LSU would end up scoring once more making the final 38-7 but it was over as soon as Tennessee couldn't answer the bell after LSU made the game 24-7.

Tennessee is making improvements and no one can argue that point. However it is also extremely apparent that the Vols have a ways to go before they are competing with the top teams in the conference. One has to assume that next year the offense will be much better and the defense will improve and depth will build. The only sticking point is that the fans and administration stand behind this coaching staff and understand what they inherited. Obviously time will tell but I can't wait to see Dooley and his orange pants hoisting the SEC championship trophy in a few years and I have full confidence in his ability to make it happen.

Keep your head up, better days are ahead.

Saturdays in the Fall - Georgia vs. Tennessee

This was the game that Tennessee had been hoping for. The one that would finally justify the hiring of Dooley and show that in fact Tennessee was on the upswing. I mean after all we had one of the best quarterbacks in the nation as well as one of the top receivers and Georgia's style of play was catered more towards running which is something our defense was pretty good against. These all played into why I was actually pretty excited about this week's game. Plus it was a sellout. How much more could you ask for?

One of my friends, Andy was meeting me at my apartment and we had a friend who had docked at the Vol Navy whom we were going to go hang out with before the game. I had never actually been to the Vol Navy in the 24 years I had been a fan. Honestly it was a neat experience. Curtis had what I would call a decent sized boat. That was before I looked at it in context. Flanked by two 100 foot house boats this thing looked like a dingy. I was also impressed with how everyone in the Vol Navy worked together.

Curtis learned a valuable lesson. Don't park a small boat between two huge houseboats or you may die from a death pit of carbon monoxide.

Finally it was gametime. I snuck over into the student section to sit with some friends who had seats on about the 45 yard line. This was supposed to be a great place to be to watch Dooley get that first big win. Tennessee won the toss and I fully expected Tennessee to stop the Bulldogs and then go down and score to take the lead and it would be on from there. However that is not at all what happened. Tennessee kicked off to Georgia and then Georgia, led by Aaron Murray, went on a 15 play drive that took exactly 5 and a half years off the clock only to cap it off with a field goal. Tennessee then countered with their own 14 play to miss a field goal and with 2:44 left in the first quarter and Georgia ahead 3-0 I decided it was time for me to shave.

Georgia came out with a 10 play drive that ended in a punt this time and Tennessee was able to put together a drive that lasted seven minute and ended when Michael Parlady nailed a field goal. The scoring bonanza was in full swing with the score tied at 3. I could sorta feel however that Georgia was just ready to break the game open. Tennessee was really showing that they did have other weapons on offense with Mychael Rivera really stepping up and making some big plays, but there were multiple times when a Georgia reciever was about 40 yards down field behind everyone but Murray had just over thrown them. Georgia was able to drive down the field and knock through yet another field goal with only about a minute and a half left in the first half. I was really impressed with how the Vols were able to answer though, putting together a solid drive with Parlady putting up three points again as time expired in the first half. Tennessee was going to be getting the ball back in the second half tied with Georgia. I was liking our chances.

The halftime show was awful. It was a ripoff from The Wizard of Oz. The only good part was when the band made a tornado, which I thought would have been more appropriate for the game with Alabama.

Tennessee started the second half with a three and out, punted to Georgia, and Georgia needed only eight plays to put it into the endzone on a drive capped by an Isaiah Crowell run from a yard out. Tennessee was able to answer with a short possession ending with a Matt Darr punt that was downed at the Georgia seven yard line. Great special teams play led only to a defensive break down when letting Georgia recievers get past the secondary finally bit Tennessee. Murray found Mitchell for a huge gain on a post pattern and then two plays later Crowell was scampering into the endzone again from 17 yards out.

The teams exchanged punts until about 6 minutes left in the fourth. Bray was hurt on an earlier possession when his hand connected with a Georgia helmet, fracturing his thumb and bringing Matt Simms into the game. Amazingly Simms was able to lead Tennessee down the field fairly quickly and after a long 4th down conversion, Simms punched it in for a touchdown. Parlady proceeded to kick the extra point straight up the centers back end and the score stook at 20-12. The onside kick was a disaster but the defense stood tall and Tennessee would have one last chance, getting the ball back with 18 seconds left. The first play was an incomplete pass and the last play of the game was something Vol fans were very familiar with, Simms being sacked. These next three weeks could be really tough.

Alot of this lies ahead. Buckle down Simms. God speed.

Saturdays In The Fall - Buffalo vs. Tennessee

When I heard that Tennessee had added Buffalo to the schedule I was extremely happy. I was excited that I was going to have a chance to see Tennessee play one of the major programs in the country and it would also bring a lot of much needed publicity to the Vols. Oh wait. That was with the team originally scheduled to play in this game, North Carolina. Buffalo on the other hand is only slightly better than Maryville High School and brings absolutely zero publicity. I didn't have to work today which made it easier for me to make it to the game. The Tennessee Fund held their donor day where they supply breakfast for donors. My parents donate to the University so I was able to eat free breakfast. I was expecting maybe a sausage biscuit and some fruit with an orange juice or something. Instead I got a small biscuit with a dab of gravy, some type of pumpkin pastry, and an apple with sweet tea to drink. Sweet Tea for breakfast is not natural. That's the kind of stuff that went on at Guantanamo to get people to talk. Someone really dropped the ball here.

When I entered the stadium I noticed something that I had never in my life seen before. There was a band sitting directly across the aisle from the Pride of the Southland. Turns out it was the Dobyns Bennett High School marching band. Immediately I knew that a high school band was going to out perform a college marching band. Sure enough halftime went to the DB band. Amazing.

Game started and as anyone would have figured, Buffalo couldn't move the ball and had to punt. This meant Devrin Young was going to have a chance to do his thing. Young fielded the punt and instantly became better than any punt returner Tennessee has had in over 2 years. After doing this, he then actually returned the punt 43 yards. Kid is amazing. He will house one before the end of the year. You heard it here first. Tennessee went on to score on an end around to Rajon Neal and the route was on.

Kid will house one. I'm telling you. Maybe even against Georgia. It's gonna happen.

On Tennessee's second drive a big run by Tauren Poole eventually led to a Tyler Bray touchdown pass to Da'Rick Rogers. Rogers caught the ball right at the goal line and fell back into the field of play. This led to the guy sitting in front of me to explain just what has to happen to constitute a touchdown. Apparently the ball has to cross the goal line in order for the points to go on the board. Who knew?

Tennessee gave up a stupid touchdown on a read option play where the Buffalo quarterback scampered something like WAY TOO FAR for a touchdown untouched. Tennessee followed that up with another pass from Bray to Rogers. Rogers caught the ball around the 40, then carried a Buffalo defender to the 20. Parlady tacked on a field goal and Tennessee ended the first quarter up 17-7.

In the second quarter Bray hit Rogers on a post pattern, Rogers caught a block from Zach Rodgers, and was forced out of bounds at the Buffalo 30 yard line. That play led to Bray hitting Da'Rick on a slant for a touchdown. One thing led to another, Tennessee found itself on offense, and then Bray found Arnett for his first career touchdown catch. Tennessee led at halftime 31-7.

Tennessee added another touchdown in the third quarter when Bray found Arnett again for the score, then both teams hit field goals in the forth quarter to make the final score 41-10. By far the play of the game was when Tennessee tried to punt, Buffalo rushed one guy, that one guy blocked the punt, the ball died right in front of Darr, Darr picked up the ball, then rumbled for the first down. So many things were wrong with that play. Tennessee did what it needed to though and now a date with Georgia looms on the horizon. I'm sure the same thing would have happened had Tennessee played North Carolina this week as well.

Matt Darr you resembled Hershel Walker running down the field. In the sense that you were running, on a football field.

Saturdays in the Fall - Southern Cal vs. Arizona St

I am 97% certain that if you are reading this blog you hate Lane Kiffin. I don't mean that type of hate where you aren't a fan of cole slaw on your BBQ pulled pork sandwich hate. I mean that kind of hate where you would sacrifice your own vehicle because the person that just passed you doing 104 mph while texting cut you off and decided it was time to slow it down to 35 while there is now two semi trucks on each side of you so you can't pass type of hate. For this reason I decided the Southern Cal versus Arizona State game in Tempe would be the perfect game to document since Tennessee was off this week. I blamed Lane Kiffin for the 10:15 EST kickoff time instead of the time zone difference. They could have kicked off at noon and made this easier on everyone. Kiffin deserves that hellish time slot anyway. It's a little known fact that Kiffin caused that Tsunami in Japan. Remember, "USC is a very powerful place." and can keep stuff like that on the down low. Regardless I pulled up the game on ESPN3.com. I watched it online because I didn't want to help the ratings of the game. I'm not sure if internet viewers count, but I'm working under the assumption that they don't. If someone knows differently please tell me. Kickoff finally rolled around and away we went.

1st Quarter

Forth play from scrimmage, Arizona St tailback Marshall scampers 70 yards for a touchdown. The shocker symbol appears no less than 80 times in the student section. Arizona State has to be the most perverted student body in the nation and that's saying something. They say the hand gesture is a trident. . . but we know.

Someone please tell me how in the world that is a trident. Honestly.

My God what a hit. Sun Devil receiver Jamal Miles caught a pass out in the flat and took off down the sidelines. USC safety TJ McDonald punished him with a brutal hit. Miles' feet flew out from under him. Sure it was an illegal hit, whatever, I bet Miles will think twice when getting into McDonald's territory next time.

Que the dust storm. A 50 mph wind appears out of no where basically making it impossible to throw the ball. All of a sudden this game is taking part in a land fill with trash flying everywhere.

2nd Quarter

Great catch for a touchdown by Gerrell Robinson for Arizona State. Ball was on his outside shoulder and he made a play against pass interference to make the play. 14-3 Sun Devils and I am very happy to be watching Lane Kiffin get what is his.

I love that at the beginning of the game the commentators are all but drooling over Matt Barkley. Barkley throws interception. Barkley is now a quarterback who has been struggling as of late. Sun Devils drive quick and score again. 21-6 Arizona State. Halftime score is 21-9, things are looking good.

3rd Quarter

Struggling to stay awake. I hate the PAC-12.

Obviously this Oregon St. player is from the East Coast. This was the 2nd quarter of a game that kicked off at 3pm PST, which is about 1am EST.

USC finally puts a ball in the endzone. Barkley finds Marqise Lee who makes a pretty good diving catch for the score. 21-16 now. Every time USC scores somewhere a kitten dies.

Tyler Marc scampers into the endzone for a touchdown to put USC up 22-21, goes for 2 and doesn't convert. I instantly question humanity. If things were right in the world USC would not be leading.

Humanity is restored. Arizona State drives down the field and scores on a short run by Marshall and Arizona State leads again 28-22.

4th Quarter

USC gets it into the red zone then fumbles after Barkley waits too long trying to pass. Arizona State hasn't beaten USC in 11 years and the one time in that span that I decide to watch the game, with 10 minutes left, they are in a great position to do just that.

Arizona State recovers a fumble and then Marshall takes it into the endzone to make it a two score ball game. On the two point try receiver Mike Willie made an unbelievable one handed grab while the USC defender was flagged for interference. Lane Kiffin was arguing the ball was uncatchable. I'm no genius but I felt as though this argument was void seeing as how Willie did in fact make the catch. Arizona State got to retry the conversion attempt since Willie was just out of bounds when he made the catch and they converted on an end around. 36-22 Sun Devils.

Pick six. Shelly Lyons jumps on an errant Matt Barkley throw and takes it to the house. I couldn't be more happy right now. 43-22 Sun Devils.

Remember that time Troy fell back in 1184 BC? I don't believe that was as painful to watch as what is going on in Tempe right now.

This is what the Sun Devils took to the stadium. . . Troy never stood a chance.

Time expires. Sun Devils win 43-22. I am SO glad I stayed up to watch this game. Arizona State was on a mission tonight. That mission was to use and abuse Lane Kiffin. Mission accomplished.

Saturdays in the Fall - Tennessee vs. Florida

The entire week leading up to the game in The Swamp I had been trying to temper my expectations, but the closer the game got, the more excited I became because I realize how hard it is to cover just one great receiver. When you throw a receiver into the mix who is arguably one of the best if not the best in the country, pair him with another very talented receiver, it makes one pass offense that is near impossible to defend. When you have that, it really opens up your running game so I knew Tennessee had a very good chance to end the six game skid against the Gators.

I had a couple of friends over to watch the game and had a miscue early while ordering the pizzas. I thought that one of them asked for a pineapple and ham pizza when what he basically said was, "Don't get that." It was ok though, we are a veteran bunch and would be able to power through this early mistake. Florida got the ball to start the half, and I think the play scripting was something like this: Screen right, screen right, run middle, pass left, stuffed, stuffed, pass to a wide open Trey Burton for a touchdown. It was fine though, no worries, we knew that Tennessee's explosive offense would respond. The Vols opened up with a nice run from Poole, then a few plays later Bray hit an open Justin Hunter. When Hunter turned up field, the Volunteers season changed dramatically. From all indications Hunter tore his ACL and will now be out for the remainder of the season.

I threw up a little in my mouth as soon as I saw the kid hit the ground.

From that point on it was obvious that Tennessee was a wounded duck. When you are able to bracket Da'Rick Rogers on the edge and put what seemed like the other 9 guys in the box to stop the run there isn't really much that an offense can do. Tennessee probably should have just packed it up and came back to Knoxville right then. Kentucky's offense was even shaking it's head at Tennessee's inability to move the ball up field. The first punt of the game didn't make anything any better either. Parlady took the snap and I am pretty sure Chris Rainey was disguised as the upback with how fast he got back in to block the punt. Justin Wilcox and the defense couldn't have played much better in the first half with the situations they were put in. If there was ever any question if his system would work in the SEC, I think its obvious it will, and we will be lucky if we are able to keep him around.

If it wasn't Rainey, it was going to be one of the other 10 guys that bust through the line like a jailbreak.

Florida was only able to muster a few field goals and on their final drive of the half, Tennessee abandoned the running game, and on a play where Florida had a 0 blitz on (for you that play NCAA 12 it would be Engage 8) Bray found Marlin Lane wide open and Tennessee SOMEHOW was able to get into the half only trailing 16-7. This is a manageable score. Especially since Tennessee got the ball to start the second half. They could score to make it 16-14, and then we would be on our way to picking up the win. God obviously just didn't want Tennessee to win however. That is the only way you can explain all that went wrong. Bray made his first big mistake and threw an interception to start the second half. Florida scored a touchdown shortly after that. Tennessee of course couldn't do anything on offense and then Brantley gave Verne Lundquist a reason to drool. That reason was a 3 yard lob pass to Chris Rainey who went another 80 yards for a touchdown.

Dooley put it best, "It looked like Rainey was out there running in the Olympics." I'm sure the only other person to see him run like that was his ex-girlfriend.

The young Tennessee team did show some incredible resiliency battling back after being down 30-7. Da'Rick Rogers caught a 12 yard touchdown pass from Bray but a two point conversion was no good after. Mychal Rivera also caught a touchdown pass. Trailing by 10 late in the forth however, Bray threw his second pick of the game and Florida was able to run out the clock.

There is obvious improvement with this football team. But there is also an obvious gap that needs to be closed between the Vols and other elite teams in the conference. What is encouraging though is that you can see that gap closing. While it would have been nice to have beaten the Gators yesterday, I think it is important to note that this team is better than last year and probably better than any Tennessee team in the last few years. The fact that it is made up of a ton of young players is also very encouraging. The loss of Hunter though is huge. Prior to the season I thought this team would be able to go 8-4. Now it's looking more like 7-5. With Hunter I have no doubt in my mind that the Vols beat the Gators Saturday. Without Hunter, I wonder what big time opponent left on the Vols schedule will be beatable. Only time will tell.

Saturdays In The Fall - Cincinnati vs. Tennessee

It would be extremely hard to beat how beautiful it was to start the day Saturday. Of course I got to spend the morning working but I was still excited about the game. It seemed like everyone that walked into the office was heading to tailgate which got me even more amped because that meant the crowd would be bigger than last week. We had to go and pick up some cars at the airport after we closed and I discovered where the Cincinnati team stayed. The Hyatt at the airport. It was information that would have been great to have known on Friday but what's done is done.

I checked the weather report this week before heading to the stadium. High of 85, sunny with only a few clouds, 10% chance of rain. With this knowledge now at my disposal, I grabbed a backpack and stuffed it full of Ziploc bags, Rain jacket and pants, towels, and a blow up dingy. I wasn't going to get fooled again.

I got to the stadium a bit late and basically just had to go straight to the stadium. Unable to meet up with any of my com padres who were in the student section, I ended up sitting with my dad for the first half. After Cincinnati broke off a 65 yard game to open up the scoring I started worrying that this would be a "whoever has the ball last will win" type of game. While I was happy with Marlin Lane scoring a touchdown on the ensuing Tennessee drive, it did little to make me think any different. Dooley really let them hang on the kickoff though when he called for the onside kick which led to a Justin Hunter touchdown reception. Cincy scored on their ensuing drive however and there we were again at 14-14.

If you want to beat Florida, just have 9 guys protect Bray, and send this guy on a Go route.

Tennessee started to really impress me when the defense stepped up and didn't allow another Cincinnati score until about seven minutes left in the third quarter while in the mean time scoring two more touchdowns in the second quarter, both to Da'Rick Rogers, and then another one to start the third quarter when Tyler Bray called his own number on a quarterback sneak. Bray looked like Joe Montana all day. His final stat line was amazing. He was 34 of 41 for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns. He accounted for 5 total touchdowns for the Vols. Over two games he has completed 78% of his passes.

2 weeks into the season and I'm comfortable in saying that this young man is going to be in New York City in December.

At this point I fully expect Tennessee to win every game by 30 points or more, and anything less than a National Championship would be a disappointment. I know next week will be a true test. Florida has one of the most talented teams in the country. They are ranked #16 in the polls and have a lengthy streak of wins against us. However, with the new coaching staff in Gainesville and the momentum that we have going, this could be the year that Tennessee gets past the Gators. Viewing party at my apartment for those interested. I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about around 8pm. Go Vols!