Saturday, September 30, 2006
Yea Florabama
The impossible question: Do you root for Florida or Alabama when they meet today?
It's been debated before by Vol fans. There's seemingly no right answer. I've heard some good arguments for both sides. One Vol fan summed it up pretty well in an email to me this week, paraphrased in the following two paragraphs.
UT fans hate the Gators because they've beaten us 10 out of the last 15 years. Losing to Florida has kept Tennessee out of 4 or 5 SEC Championship games. They're cocky and disgusting with no tradition. We hated Spurrier because of his cockiness and uncanny ability to get under our skin. Now we hate Urban because he's a media darling who hasn't really accomplished anything. But how did we all feel about Florida before the 1990s? Indifferent, at worst. They may as well have been LSU or Mississippi State.
Most of us grew up as Vol fans hating Alabama. The earliest memories of Tennessee football come from hating Alabama. Nobody carried Fulmer off the field when he finally beat Spurrier, but we've all seen the picture of Majors being lifted above the Bear in 1982. Losing to Alabama hurts worse than losing to Florida, and beating Alabama is more glorious than beating the Gators.
Considering all of that, UT fans are still left with the impossible choice today when the SEC's Axis of Evil meets in Gainesville. Which team do you root for?
The answer is simple: neither.
As I mentioned to Joel at Rocky Top Talk earlier this week, you don't root for one of these teams, you root against one of these teams. You don't have to let a "Roll Tide" or "Go Gators" escape your lips all afternoon. Tennessee needs Florida to lose a couple of games for the Vols to get back in the SEC East race. If that's your priority, root against the Gators. If you can't stomach "Yea Alabama" and "Rammer Jammer" under any circumstances (and nobody could blame you) then root against the Tide.
As for me, I'm rooting against both. As far as I'm concerned, it's a can't lose situation: either Florida or Alabama is guaranteed to lose today.
Sweet.
IFTIT: Memphis [State]
I was a little sad this week to find out that the Tennessee/Memphis State series will be coming to an end when the current contract between the schools runs out. To be sure, all Memphis State/UT games are problematic for Vol fans: if it's a blowout, it's boring; if it's a close game, it should have been a blowout. Tennessee has more to lose than to gain from playing the Tigers. Struggling against Memphis State makes the Vols look weak. The one-out-of-twenty-games loss was catastrophic. Two of the biggest advantages to playing Memphis State are recruiting in the area (even if it rarely pans out) and the trade-off of playing the Tigers in basketball.
However, the main reason I regret the end of the series is for the sake of the West Tennessee Vol fans. There are a ton of people that make a 6-8 hour drive across I-40 to see games in Knoxville. They come from Memphis, Jackson, Union City, Paris, and a host of other cities, towns, and hollers to see their Vols. Make no mistake, Neyland Stadium wouldn't need 100,000 seats if folks from west of Cuba Landing didn't travel to Knoxville. Playing in Memphis every few years gives those people an easier travel weekend, and it's a shame that it has to end.
But one of the great things about Tennessee football is that no matter where you are when the Vols kick off, as long as you're singing Rocky Top, you're in Big Orange Country.
It's time again.
It's Football Time in [West] Tennessee!
Friday, September 29, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Memphis [State] Predictions
--The recent firing of Memphis State defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn will break one of two ways for the Vols. Either Memphis State is completely unpredictable on defense and discombobulate Ainge and the offense, or the Tigers' defense shows us all why coach Tommy West had to fire Dunn two weeks into the season. I'm guessing the latter. I posted yesterday about the importance of big plays to this Tennessee team, and that trend will continue Saturday. UT had a season high eight 20-yard plays last week against Marshall, and the Vols will better that number this week with nine plays of 20 yards or more.
--LaMarcus Coker has been involved with 4 of Tennessee's 20-yard-plus plays (3 rushing, 1 receiving), which is pretty remarkable considering the limited playing time he's had. Let's see Coker add another 3 big plays to his resume, to go along with a rushing day of over 100 yards.
--Robert Meachem enters the game with seven of Tennessee's plays over 20 yards. Jayson Swain has five. All of the plays Meachem has made his year will be a focal point for Memphis State and open up opportunities for Swain. The pass-catching duo will leave the game tied in the 20+ category, 3 big plays for Swain and 1 for Meachem.
Go Vols!
Thursday, September 28, 2006
The Death of "Johnny Ball"
Here's your assignment, Vol fans: describe Tennessee's offense over the last twenty or so years using only one word.
Predictable? Sometimes. Efficient? Often. Boring? To some. Reliable? Most of the time.
Explosive? Not typically. At least, not until this year. Not until you realize that the average Tennessee touchdown play in 2006 is a play of over 30 yards. In fact, seven of UT's 15 touchdowns have come on plays of 40 or more yards (8/15 are on plays of more than 20 yards).
For many fans, the general perception of Tennessee's offense is one that, while probably not borne out by statistics, has nonetheless earned its own nickname: Johnny Ball. Of course, Johnny Ball gets its name from the idea that Johnny Majors' offenses had the same basic strategy that has carried over at UT through the 90s and up to today. You know Johnny Ball: run up the middle three times, punt. Hope the other team makes a mistake that gives you good field position. Run up the middle three times, kick a field goal. Maybe late in the game, when all that running up the middle has worn the opposing defense out, you call a toss sweep and outrun them to the endzone. Or, if you want to get really creative, pop them with a play-action pass.
Johnny Ball is power running, field position, and defense. To many, it is boring.
Enter the 2006 Vols. Exit Johnny Ball.
We know that Tennessee is averaging 30 yards per TD play, and 8 out of 15 touchdowns have come on plays of 20 yards or longer. But what about the other 7 touchdowns? Consider the Air Force game, with four touchdown plays but none longer than 5 yards. Are the big plays still there? Yes, and they helped set up scores. Against Air Force, Tennessee had plays of 44, 20, 24, 45, and 28 yards. Four of those plays helped set up either a field goal or touchdown (two were on the same drive), and one got the Vols to the AFA 14 yard line before Ainge threw an interception. One other touchdown was set up by a 19-yard pass.
Through four games, Tennessee has had 23 plays of 20 yards or longer. Of 19 scoring drives this season, 16 have involved at least one play of over 20 yards. The Vols need big plays to score and are finding them. But are the Vols hitting it big out of necessity, or is it a luxury?
Both.
One of the big stories of the year has been the lack of production from the offensive line. Coach Cutcliffe has tried to deflect some of that heat onto himself, and recently fans have begun to blame the fullbacks for the inconsistent running game. Regardless of fault, the fact is that these Vols don't have Johnny Ball ability. In other words, this Tennessee team can't grind out a win, or at least hasn't shown the ability to yet.
However, for the first time since 2001, Tennessee has playmakers at wide receiver. Guys like Tony Brown and Chris Hannon were not bad wideouts, but not since Donte Stallworth and Kelly Washington has UT had a pair of guys who could burn a defense for 40+ yards with regularity like Robert Meachem and Jayson Swain are doing this year (as in six times over four games).
If Johnny Ball was anything, it was consistent. We're yet to see if the Vols can keep up their big play ways. As the cliche goes, live by the sword, die by the sword. If Tennessee runs out of big plays, they may run of wins.
But I'll leave you with a good sign that the Vols could continue their big play ways. One Tennessee running back has been more involved than the others in making 20+ yard plays. If you haven't guessed, it's LaMarcus Coker, who makes his first start of the year this weekend against Memphis .
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Slacker Edition
Hastily thrown together, but I'll make up for it later. Promise.
--Some movement on the UT depth chart this week. Walter Fisher has moved to defensive tackle hoping to help shore up the interior defensive line. Josh McNeil will get his first start at center, replacing former walk-on Michael Frogg. And LaMarcus Coker will start at tailback. Many fans will grumble that it doesn't matter who starts at tailback until the line starts blocking better. But Coker has shown big-play ability and that's what the Vols are looking for right now. More on that Thursday.
--I told you nothing happened last weekend, and the latest BlogPoll seems to bear that out. Not much movement, not much needed. There's nowhere to move teams when they all look exactly the same.
--Speaking of the BlogPoll, there's an excellent BlogPoll Roundtable Roundup over at Maize n Brew. It's a good way of checking in with other teams from around the country.
Coming up: The death of "Johnny Ball."
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Closing the Book on Marshall
"O-VER-RA-TED! clap, clap, clap clap clap"
It's one of the familiar chants in college sports, albeit normally reserved for an unranked or lowly-ranked team knocking off a top 10 program. But Marshall's players are changing all that. Even after the Vols won 33-7 Saturday, some of the Herd players were questioning the Vols' ability. One of the more interesting comments came from Marshall cornerback James Johnson, who said "[UT's] speed was alright, but it wasn't what I expected." Maybe LaMarcus Coker's 89-yard run happened so fast that Johnson missed it all together.
I find it a little funny that last week Marshall's players had nothing but glowing comments about Tennessee, yet they wait until after a 33-7 drubbing to talk smack. Maybe they feel it's a little safer now that both schools have opted out of the final two meetings of the series. Anyway, Mr. Johnson needs to know that there's one other saying in football that trumps the "overrated" cheer: "SCOREBOARD".
So how do the Vols stand after Saturday's win? It depends on who you're listening to. The Tennessean has run headlines like "Vols answer line questions with big game," while the Daily Times says "UT run game still needs work." And both are true: the fact that the offensive line wants to run the ball as outlined in the Tennessean article bodes well. At least they have confidence and the right attitude about getting better. But there is still work to be done. Take the big plays UT had in the running game against Marshall out of the equation and you'll find that they were just average on the ground Saturday. Of course average is better than horrible, which is what the running game was against Florida.
When I closed the book on Florida last week, I said that the coaches couldn't keep pounding the ball when the run game wasn't working. Then I predicted Cutcliffe to go out and force the run game against Marshall. At first I was disappointed that Tennessee didn't emphasize the run early on, but in hindsight I'm glad they didn't. I believe Tennessee is a big-play offense right now. The Vols are going to be looking for home runs, not singles, and so far it's worked pretty well. Tennessee tried to hit a home run on the first play against Florida, and had Ainge thrown the ball better, it would have been a touchdown. I'm glad to see LaMarcus Coker starting this weekend against Memphis; he showed big-play ability against Marshall and that's what we're going to see UT try to accomplish, at least for the time being.
So, what's next? The Vols take their second longest road trip of the season without even leaving the state when they travel to play Memphis State at noon Saturday. The Tigers are only 1-2 on the season, but they always get fired up to play Tennessee. Need a reason of your own to get fired up against Tiger High? Read this. And yes, he was down when his elbow hit the field.
BlogPoll Ballot Week 5: Rough Draft
An interesting thing happened in college football Saturday: nothing.
37-14. 24-6. 38-7. 28-6. 33-7. Unless you were in Athens, GA, or East Lansing, MI, on Saturday, you probably saw a game with one of the above scores (or one very similar). In fact, the top 15 teams in my BlogPoll ballot from last week all won by an average score of 31-10. Trust me, I didn't want to use last week's ballot as a crutch. But it's hard to come up with an original ballot when just about every team looked so similar, and so pedestrian.
Because the scores and the overall level of competition were so comparable for all of the top teams (is there really that much difference between playing Tulane, Kansas State, Buffalo or Kentucky?), I decided to use margin of victory as a starting point for this week's top 25. I don't intend to use that same criteria for my ballot in future weeks, but in this week where every game seemed to be a clone of the one before it, margin of victory seemed as logical a basis as any. I seem to be having technical difficulties, so the actual ballot will be up later, but here's the rationale behind the ranking, and a list of the games I watched Saturday.
Rationale: The greatest margin of victory came from (1) Auburn, who won by 31 points. Although they did play lesser competition than (2) Ohio St., OSU struggled most of the day with a pretty bad team. (3) Florida didn't look that good against Kentucky, but they didn't look any worse than (4) Louisville. Continuing a theme, (5) USC looked just okay, too. (6) West Virginia won by 17 points when they should have won by 27, but if I'm using margin of victory then they have to be ahead of (7) Michigan who won by 14. At this point I had to start inserting one-loss teams, because (8) LSU and (9) Texas would beat unimpressive (10) Iowa any day. I know I have the Hawkeyes too high, but this convoluted system I have going on in my head puts them right there for this week, and it will sort itself out after they play OSU.
If (11) Notre Dame were a top 10 team, they wouldn't have needed 19 points in the fourth quarter to win. If (12) Georgia were a top 10 team, they would have destroyed Colorado. (13) Clemson looked impressive Saturday, but lots of teams are going to look impressive against UNC. (14) Tennessee looked about as average as anybody, but they won't get jumped by (15) Cal on my ballot as long as both teams have the same record. By not playing, (16) TCU and (17) Oregon impressed me more then (18) Virginia Tech. (19) Oklahoma destroyed MTSU, but that's what you're supposed to do to Lil' Middle. I want to rank (20) Rutgers higher, but when you play a I-AA team it's hard to judge how good you are. (21) Nebraska beat down Troy, see also OKU/MTSU. (22) Boise St. looks like a 21-25 place team. I had to go looking for teams to replace Boston College, Alabama, and Arizona State, and found (23) Missouri, (24) Houston, and (25) Arkansas.
Games I Watched: Bits and Pieces-- UNC/Clemson, Louisville/Kansas St., Iowa/Illinois, Howard/Rutgers, Alabama/Arkansas, Penn St./Ohio St., Arizona St./Cal, UCLA/Washington, Kentucky/Florida, Boston College/NC State, Tulane/LSU, Hawaii/Bosie St., USC/Arizona. Big Chunks-- Wisconsin/Michigan, Colorado/Georgia, Notre Dame/MSU. All of Tennessee/Marshall.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Crowd Around
If you plan on cheering for the Vols this season, be careful. You never know who's watching. And if you plan on cheering loudly, you might just want to stay at home.
An article in Saturday's Knoxville News-Sentinel tells the story of UT season ticket holder Victoria Caldwell and the telephone call she received early last week asking her to be a little more quiet during games. Was the call just the technology age's version of "Down in front"? Not exactly: the call came from the UT athletic department. That's right, just weeks after Phillip Fulmer asked fans to be loud at games and even sent an email to the student body and season ticket holders thanking them for being vocal, the athletic department itself is telling people to quiet down. CFAJ's knee-jerk reaction #1: OMG FIRE MIKE HAMILTON NOW!
But there's more to the story. The old fogies season ticket holders in Ms. Caldwell's section (section S) maintain it's not that she cheers, it's when and how she cheers, which is evidently always and repetitively. The athletic department felt they had to make the phone call because they received complaints from other fans in that part of the stadium. One section S ticket holder is quoted in the story as saying "There's a difference in cheering for your team versus being obnoxious to everyone around you. She just yells the same thing over and over." CFAJ's knee-jerk reaction #2: Oh, she's THAT FAN, the one who yells and does the wave WHEN THE OFFENSE IS ON THE FIELD. Give Mike Hamilton a raise for getting rid of that chick.
And yet, the saga continues. When you click on the KNS story, look on the far-right hand side. There's a link to actual video evidence of Ms. Caldwell cheering. Is she being obnoxious? Yeah, a little. But what's equally obnoxious is that the old fogies season ticket holders around her are sitting on their hands. It's also strange that the people in section S find someone standing and cheering for the Vols such a novelty that it needs to be videotaped. To be fair to both sides, there's no context given for the footage. Which team had the ball? What was the down and distance? Was it halftime, a time-out, or third-and-long?
The point is that there are definite times to cheer during a game just like there are times to be quiet. If you don't understand, I'll help you:
1) Cheer loudly before and during kickoffs.
2) Don't make noise when UT has the ball. You may cheer during a play that gains a bunch of yards and briefly following a first down. Go nuts after a touchdown.
3) Make lots of noise when the other team has the ball. If you just can't take standing and yelling for an entire defensive series, at a bare minimum yell your lungs out on first and third downs.
That's pretty much it. Feel free to make a cheat sheet for the next time you go to Neyland. And the next time someone is being obnoxious in your section, rather than tattling on her like a school child, try to show her the right way to cheer.
After all, you never know who's watching you.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Marshall Predictions Reviewed
Please allow myself to evaluate...myself.
--The crowd will be the smallest of the season. I didn't know about the weather situation when I made that prediction, but even if I had I wouldn't have guessed just how small the crowd would be. 104,818 was the paid attendance, but there were obviously way fewer people than that in the bleachers. As I said on Friday, Tennessee only plays a relative few weekends out of the year. If you have the opportunity to go watch them play, regardless of rain, sleet, or hail, take it. If you left because of the weather, I understand your logic, but I disagree with your decision.
--The Vols will run the ball. A bunch. And for a bunch of yards. Well, not really. Tennessee ran for 179 yards on 24 carries, highlighted by LaMarcus Coker's 89-yard run. I was surprised that Cutcliffe didn't pound the rock and try to give the offensive line a ton of practice creating running lanes. The 24 rushing plays accounted for less than half of UT's offensive snaps, and the hogs are on record saying they wish the coaches would have called more running plays. 179 yards is obviously a vast improvement over last week's -11, but this wasn't an SEC defense the Vols were running against this week and there's still a lot of improvement that needs to be done in the ground game. Also, a hat tip to 8th Maxim for this quote: "Montario Hardesty had 8 carries for 21 yards. His longest run from scrimmage? 20 yards. Think about it."
--The defense will look its best this week. Let's put it this way, the defense played its best fourth quarter of the year. There were still some big plays given up, and anytime the opposition runs the option I get a little of that "pucker factor" Fulmer talked about last week. Still, Chavis' guys gave up only 236 yards, their lowest total of the season. We'll see how they do as the schedule get a little tougher than Marshall.
As for the final score, I got pretty close. The prediction was Vols win, 35-6. Actual total: 33-7. Not too shabby.
On Monday: Close the book on Marshall and start looking at Memphis State.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Analog Live Blog: UT/Marshall
Here's the situation: my "good" TV and my computer are in separate rooms. So I couldn't sit at the keyboard and live blog while watching the game. But I did take notes. They are somewhat random and full of spelling and other errors, overall pretty craptacular, but I'm going to share them just as I wrote them. So, for no reason in particular and probably of no interest to anyone but me, here's my stream of consciousness thoughts from the UT/Marshall game.
--4:00 pm - game delyed for weather freakin weak.
--Announcers talking about rain, but it better be more than that nobody, in stands, since when is football not played in rain?
--players not running through T for 1st time since 1965 - bad sign
--5:02 pm - finally, IFTIT
--Wilhoit misses 41-yarder, not really trying to setablish run - suprising
--marshall - worst snap I've ever seen
next play - SAFETY - always fun
--Great fake by Ainge, TD UT
don't know why Marsh bought fake, we still can't run
--1st time all year, Vols stop option play...
but can't stop pass?
--9-0 UT start of 2nd Q
1st down running the ball glory hallelujah
-- 90-yd Marshall TD drive helped by personal fouls - one was BS but sometimes we play STUPID! and we still can't stop option
--and we still can't run
--RUSHING TD - miracles 20 yrds Mo Hard 16-7 UT
--Halftime 16-7
why does the crowd act like they're going to melt everytime it starts to rain? It's football, people!
CSS behind-the-scenes special on UT, QBs wearing green jerseys in team meeting. that's just funny
--Marshall eats half of 3rd quarter for worst missed fg ever
--offense does nothing but Colquitt's da man
--apparently the refs have never heard of holding as Marshall's O-line is riding McBride like Seattle Slue
--good things happen when you play the option right
--start of 4th - INT Marshall crap!
--FINALLY! Long run TD Coker UT 23-7
--Heffney - pick - why can't we play like this for 4 qrts?
--Wilhoit FG 49 yd 26-7
--L. Coker running wild
--TD Yancy we're over 30 pts and I like that 33-7 Vols
--Final Tenn 33 Marshal 7
When we put our mind to playing football (ie 1st and 4th qrts) we looked good, otherwise just blah
did Vols get better today?
parts of game were ugly BUT bottom line is 33-7 (respectable final score) and 3-1 going to Memphis
So, there you have it, whatever it is. The reflection on Friday's predictions will be up tomorrow, but my immediate reaction to the game is that a week after Florida, the glass is half empty and half full. There are signs that Tennessee can get better. The defense had some bonehead plays but did shut the option down at times (at least better than they have up to today). The passing game is healthy and maybe Coker will be the back that gets more out of the o-line's limited blocking. There are definite weaknesses on this team that will continue to be exposed until they're corrected. Memphis is better than Marshall and UT will have to play better to beat the Tigers. But for now the Vols are 3-1, and that's better than many people thought they'd be right now.
TGIFIT
Not a great week to be a blogger if you're covering Tennessee.
Last week was easy. Between Justin Harrell and cheesenapping, there was plenty to write about. Even without those two storylines, the sheer fact that the hated Gators were coming to town was plenty for internet fodder.
This week, the writing came a little tougher. There were two basic choices. We could either dwell on the Florida loss, or move on to the next opponent. Both were problematic: the two main reasons Tennessee lost to the Gators (lack of running game, defense tiring in the fourth quarter) had been beaten into the ground by Tuesday, and Marshall's not the most inspiring opponent to write about. A few years ago, Marshall was a mid-major power with giant-killer ability. This year, the Herd's only win is against Hofstra, a mid-major power with giant-killer ability in basketball.
But now we've come to that time of the week when words don't matter. It's all about what's going on between the lines, not on computer screens. And even if the opponent doesn't evoke strong emotions from you, the fact that it's Tennessee football should. It's time once again.
Thank God, It's Football Time In Tennessee!
Friday, September 22, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Marshall Predictions
My 3 weekly Friday predictions for Saturday's game, which will be reviewed on Sunday. Got it?
--The crowd this week will be the smallest of the season. There were still tickets available as of yesterday, and Marshall's not the sexiest opponent UT plays this year.
I just want to hop up on my soapbox for a second: anytime you are able to go to a game at Neyland Stadium, you should. It doesn't matter who the Vols are playing, just go. You only get this opportunity six or seven times a year. That means there's 358 days that you can't go to Neyland. This is a personal issue for me because due to various reasons, for the first time in 10 years I won't be at a Vols home game this season. Even if it's "just Marshall," when you have a chance to go, you need to.
--The Vols will run the ball. A bunch. And for a bunch of yards. The running game has no doubt been the topic of discussion this week. Tennessee is better than Marshall and should be able to run the ball against them effectively. The coaches will use this game to work the offensive line and get them some confidence for the rest of the season.
--The defense will look its best this week. This one's hard to quantify, but after the game, we'll all sit around and say "that's what Tennessee defense is supposed to look like." This week is all about getting better, and the defense (which has been almost as maligned as the running game) will have it's best outing of the season.
The new clock rules in college football have made it harder to score tons of points, and if Tennessee does try to establish a running game the clock will be even shorter. Still, with the defense and offensive line playing better, Tennessee should win by a comfortable margin. Lets' say Vols win, 35- 6.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Sure Happy It's Thursday Contest Of the Week: Virginia @ Georgia Tech
Tonight's ESPN game features an ACC showdown between Virginia and Georgia Tech. Virginia's Al Groh is on the hot seat after a few years of his team not living up to fans' expectations. Georgia Tech was semi-impressive in their first game against Notre Dame, but have...wait, I almost actually started talking about football there. It's the Sure Happy It's Thursday Contest Of the Week, and when two mid-level ACC teams get together, it smells like a S.H.I.T. C.O.W. to me! Let's get to the real preview...
Round 1: Mascots
Virginia's mascot is the Cavalier. Persons loyal to the king during the English Civil War were called Cavaliers, and the "Old Dominion" of Virginia was home to many such people. Of course, it's easy to support your king when he's being beheaded on the other side of the ocean. Georgia Tech sports the Yellow Jacket for a mascot. As Adam Sandler says in Happy Gilmore, "Green jacket, yellow jacket, who gives a...", oh, wait, it's not that kind of jacket. Yellowjackets are a type of wasp or hornet, and according to my in-depth crappy research, can sting multiple times and without provocation. I think that in a fight, I have to go with the Yellow Jacket. Even though the Cavalier has a sword, it's not going to help him much when hundreds of tiny, angry wasps swarm his limey British-loving derriere. Round 1 goes to Georgia Tech.
Round 2: Alumni
Woodrow Wilson attended UVa law school for a year. Georgia Tech has Jimmy Carter. Hmmm. The University boasts literary figures like Edgar Allan Poe. Tech's got the co-founder of Waffle House. Hmmmmmm. Pretty even so far.
In the world of entertainment, Georgia Tech graduated Jeff Foxworthy (the Ramblin' 'Neck from Georgia Tech?), while Virginia has SNL writer and Weekend Update host Tina Fey. But what tips the scale for Virginia in my mind is the fact that Keebler elf CBS anchorwoman Katie Couric is a former Wahoo. Round 2 goes to Virginia.
Tiebreaker: Lightning Round, Best 3/5
Best Campus Landmark: Virginia has won numerous awards for it's campus architecture, including the Rotunda. It is a World Heritage Site, one of only four man-made landmarks in America. Georgia Tech's lost in the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta, but it is across from the Varsity. Award winning architecture, or greasy chili dogs? What'll ya have??? Advantage: Georgia Tech.
Hottest Dance Team: Georgia Tech or UVa? Since I can't get any of the pictures to come up on that Tech site, it's Advantage: Virginia.
Music: Notable line from Ramblin' Wreck Song: "Like all the jolly good fellows/I drink my whiskey clear." Notable line from the Good Old Song: "We come from Old Virginia/Where all is bright and gay." Not that there's anything wrong with that, but Advantage: Georgia Tech
Secondary Mascots: Virginia teams are also known as Wahoos or 'Hoos. I have no idea why, and I'm entirely too lazy to look it up. But whatever it means, it's got to be better than Ramblin' Wreck, right? I mean, that's just a broken-down Ford. I've got one of those. But I don't have a 'Hoo. Advantage: UVa.
Secondary Campuses: I can't find a secondary campus for Virginia, but Tech has a campus in France. Advantage: Virginia.
So there you have it. UVa defeats the Georgia Institute of Technology tonight, probably something like 41-38.
Enjoy your Thursday night football.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
BlogPoll Roundtable
Michigan blogger Maize n Brew is hosting this week's BlogPoll Roundtable. It's CFAJ's first time to participate in the roundtable, so let's get right to the Q & A:
1. Its only the third week of the season and we've already seen some highly ranked favorites drop out of national championship contention. Preseason favorite Cal dropped to #21 after a loss and a pair of underwhelming victories. Who's your pick as the next NC contender to take a fall?
The obvious answer hovers around October 7, when Texas plays Oklahoma and the next SEC battle royal ensues headlined by LSU/Florida (Tennessee also plays Georgia that day and Arkansas visits could-be-looking-ahead-to-the-Gators Auburn).
But I want to offer a more creative answer, so I'm looking for a contender who could lose before Oct. 7...looking...searching...searching...scraping...how about...Michigan? It's a stretch, but the Wolverines play Wisconsin and at Minnesota. If they don't keep their well-deserved swollen egos in check, one of those teams could cause trouble for them.
2. By that same token there are several schools hanging around without a loss that all of a sudden look like surprise contenders. There are also a few one loss teams with a legit shot at getting back into it. Looking at the rankings who's the team no one's talking about with the best shot at crashing the party?
I think Oregon has supplanted Cal as “the other PAC-10 team” to look out for. If Oregon gets to the USC game undefeated, they could have a shot. I don’t think they’ll make it that far, though. TCU could crash the party in terms of getting to a BCS bowl, but it won’t be the national championship game. LSU is a team with one loss that could get back in on the strength of their marauding, flesh-eating front 7. OK, so that's a cop-out because it's not just one team. Sue me.
3. Every team has their quicksand away game. You know. That place you should win but somehow find ways to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or at least scare the &*%^ out of you every year. Did you know that over the last 21 years Kentucky wasn't won once in Knoxville? Where is your team's yearly sandtrap?
I’m going to cheat a little on this one, but the place that scares the &*%^ out of me is the Georgia Dome. It’s a horrible catch-22, because the goal in any season is to get to the SEC championship game. But Tennessee has played 6 games in Atlanta over the last 9 years, and has posted an embarassing 2-4 record. The two wins came in 1997 and 1998, so that’s 0-4 this century. To paraphrase Steve Spurrier, you can’t spell “MATT MAUCK IS STILL RUNNING THE DAMN BALL!!!” without U-T.
4. Now that you've looked into the darkest place in your football soul, free Escalades aside, turn and look into your crystal ball. Conference play is either just starting or a single game in. Based on what you've seen so far, give the order of finish in your conference, and if you've got a Conference Championship game tell us who the winner will be. Independents must predict the remainder of their schedule. The results your predictions will be held against you at the end of the season.
SEC East
T1. Tennessee
T1. Florida
T1. Georgia
4. South Carolina
5. Vanderbilt
6. Kentucky
SEC West
1. Auburn (SEC Champ)
2. LSU
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Mississippi
6. Miss. State
That’s right, homerism and a cop-out, all rolled into one.
5. In keeping with the spirit of Maize n Brew, name your beverage of choice on game days and why. It need not be alcoholic, as there are some of us who choose not to imbibe on game day. Further, it need not be limited to a single brand/type/category. If you enjoy drinking PBR and Kraft Turkey Gravy at the same time (which I have personally witnessed), please, elaborate. Finally, if you should feel so inclined, and this is not a requirement, add an anecdote involving said beverage choice.
Game day starts with several cans of Sun-Drop. If you’ve never had Sun-Drop, get in your car and drive towards Tennessee until you find some. If you don’t know what Sun-Drop is, the best way that I can explain it is that if Mountain Dew is Clark Griswold, then Sun-Drop is Cousin Eddie.
If I’m watching the game at home, I usually have a couple of beers, anything ranging from PBR to a show of beersnobbery like Fuller's ESB. If I’m at the game, I have to have some good ol’ Tennessee whiskey. Jack Daniels is the familliar choice here, but George Dickel is the prefered brand. And of course, in keeping with the name of this blog, game day wouldn’t be the same without a swig from a moonshine jug.
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Attitude, Platitudes, and Gratitude
--Phillip Fulmer had a simple message for his offensive line this week: "Welcome to the real world." The hogs up front are taking a lot of heat for Saturday's loss to Florida, and rightfully so. As most of the free world already knows by now, Tennessee rushed for -11 yards against the Gators, thanks largely to a lack of push in the trenches. The encouraging thing in all of this is the attitude the big men are taking toward this challenge. The linemen have put the blame on themselves for the loss, and senior guard David Ligon sums up the o-line's mental state right now: "We have no problem taking the blame for a loss..we're going to take the challenge, and we're going to get better." As I posted earlier this week, a football season is dynamic. It's a work in progress. Teams usually get better or worse as the season goes on, they rarely stay the same. The Vols' offensive line has got some physical work to do to get better, but their mental approach is a step in the right direction.
--I think the cheese is safe this week. There's absolutely no trash talk in advance of this week's UT/Marshall game. In fact, I keep expecting to see little smiley-face emoticons in the stories coming out of Huntington, WV. If anything, it's anti-smack. For example, check out these quotes from two different stories out of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch:
"It's a great place. It's been a dream. All the history and prestige in that stadium." -Knoxville native and Marshall offensive lineman John Inman, on playing in Neyland Stadium.
"They can't overlook us and I don't think they will. They don't want to be 2-2." -Knoxville native and Marshall punter Ian O'Connor.
"He's elusively quick in the pocket and knows where to go with the ball." -Marshall head coach Mark Snyder on Erik Ainge.
"They're exceptionally talented. They held Florida to 21 points. That's pretty good. When I look at them, all I see is speed. These guys are faster. Their defensive front is outstanding." -Snyder on Tennessee's defense.
"Their defensive line is one of the best we'll go up against...they do a lot up front. They're real athletic." -Inman, on UT's defensive front.
But my favorite quote and the quintessential example of anti-smack, once again from Inman: "They won't be licking their wounds, they'll be licking their chops. They'll be ready."
I hope he's right.
--Earlier this week, Justin Harrell had successful surgery to repair his torn biceps tendon. We had a lot of fun last week hyping Harrell's one-game return to the lineup. And while his effort only netted three tackles in the box score, his impact on all of Big Orange Country in terms of leadership and courage was and will continue to be an inspiration. And inspiration is what really matters.
We're all proud of you, #92. Thank you for being a Tennessee Volunteer.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
BlogPoll Final Draft
After much meditation, I decided to make two changes to my inaugural Blogpoll ballot. Even though Oklahoma's response to getting screwed by the refs is utterly whiney, they did get screwed by the refs. I figure that if they had beaten Oregon, I'd still have the Sooners in the 16-20 range, so I'm moving them up a spot to #20. Basically, the win helped Oregon more than the loss hurt Oklahoma. I'm not completely comfortable with the Ducks at #12, but I don't want to move Virginia Tech up, either.
The other change is one I wanted to go with in the first place, it just took me a few days to pull the trigger. I'm dropping Florida State from my ballot and putting Rutgers in at #25. After thinking about it, if FSU and Rutger played, I'm pretty sure the Scarlett Knights would win. The rest of the ballot is the same as the rough draft.Rank Team Delta 1 Auburn -- 2 Ohio State -- 3 Southern Cal -- 4 Florida -- 5 Michigan -- 6 Louisville -- 7 West Virginia -- 8 Texas -- 9 Louisiana State -- 10 Georgia -- 11 TCU -- 12 Oregon -- 13 Virginia Tech -- 14 Tennessee -- 15 Cal -- 16 Notre Dame -- 17 Boston College -- 18 Clemson -- 19 Iowa -- 20 Oklahoma 
1 21 Boise State 
1 22 Alabama -- 23 Arizona State -- 24 Nebraska -- 25 Rutgers 1
Void Where Prohibited
In case you haven't heard, Oklahoma got completely jobbed in their game against Oregon Saturday. Two key plays late in the game were put under review and still called incorrectly, helping the Ducks beat the Sooners 34-33. The PAC-10 has since admitted that the wrong calls were made and suspended the officiating crew and replay officials that were working the game. So, mistakes were made, punishment was dispensed, end of story, right?
Wrong. Oklahoma president David Boren has asked the Big 12 to get the Sooner's loss to the Ducks voided from the record books and have the officiating crew that worked the game drawn and quartered suspended for the remainder of the year.
Know what I think? Great idea!
In fact, while we're voiding games, I'd like to have Tennessee's loss to Florida voided, too. I mean, come on, the refs were pretty bad in that game, weren't they? I'd also like the Jabar Gaffney "catch" from 2000 voided, please.
Hey, now that we have video replay in college football, let's take full advantage of it. You know all those games they show on ESPN Classic? They should all be reviewed for mistakes by the refs. We could probably void half of the history of college football in one weekend. Oh, and I just got a call from Notre Dame, they'd like Saturday's game against Michigan voided. Not because the refs were bad, they'd just like to forget about it.
Or, we all could just accept the fact while there are true injustices in the world, bad college football officiating isn't that high on the list. We could accept that when things don't go our way, the right thing to do is to behave like adults and deal with it, rather than acting like whiny children.
To me, that seems like an even better idea.
Monday, September 18, 2006
Closing the Book on Florida, and Where Do the Vols Go from Here?
Is the glass half-empty, or half full?
Am I going to be one of the Legions of the Miserable, as Johnny Majors used to call the grumbling fans, or a Friend of Fulmer? I didn't know what direction to take this post, until I read this article from David Climer. In it, Climer makes such assertions as: "the Vols are moving in the wrong direction" and "the Vols are struggling to stay in the top half of the SEC East."
Excuse me?
Tennessee has played a grand total of one (1) SEC East rival this season. In that game (against the division favorite, mind you) Tennessee lost by a grand total of one (1) point. Climer's comments hold true if you're reading them last year. Last year the Vols looked awful against SEC East foes. Even Vandy and South Carolina looked good against UT last year.
Let's not forget that this year Tennessee has played two top-20 opponents. The Big Orange crushed one and lost to the other by one point. Is that really moving in the wrong direction? Can we at least see how the Vols do against the bulk of the SEC schedule before damning them to the bottom half of the division? There's still a lot of football to be played, and Tennessee is not out of the division race.
So, CFAJ, sounds like you're giving the Vols a pass on this loss. Nope, far from it. Tennessee should have beaten the Gators on Saturday night. The offensive line played horribly, and that has to change. Punt coverage has to get better. The coaches can't stubbornly run the ball when the pass game is working. And without Justin Harrell, the defensive line will have to learn to bow their backs in pressure situations.
Believe it or not, that's good news.
Football's not static, it's dynamic. teams can get better or worse as the year progresses. Tennessee has two more games before they play Georgia and the rest of the SEC schedule. Let's see how the Vols respond to this setback before we say that they're "moving in the wrong direction."
So, what's next? The Marshall Thundering Herd comes to Knoxville Saturday. I watched some of Marshall's game against Kansas State this past weekend, and Marshall's not very good. Does that mean the Vols will roll on Saturday? Hopefully, but not necessarily. Marshall will come in fired up, thinking they have a chance to pull an upset. They've seen Air Force and Florida have success running the ball against UT. It's up to the Vols to use this game as an opportunity to get better.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Poll Dancing: Rough Draft
This week marks my first venture into the breech of the mighty Blogpoll. If you need to know what the BlogPoll is, check here. Also, check out the nifty list of blogs that participate in the sidebar. Below I have a rough draft for my first ballot. If you see something that is way out of whack, use the comments link below to let me know who, what, where, and why I should change. Following is my top 25, a rationale for the rankings, and a list of the games i watched this weekend.Rank Team Delta 1 Auburn 25 2 Ohio State 24 3 Southern Cal 23 4 Florida 22 5 Michigan 21 6 Louisville 20 7 West Virginia 19 8 Texas 18 9 Louisiana State 17 10 Georgia 16 11 TCU 15 12 Oregon 14 13 Virginia Tech 13 14 Tennessee 12 15 Cal 11 16 Notre Dame 10 17 Boston College 9 18 Clemson 8 19 Iowa 7 20 Boise State 6 21 Oklahoma 5 22 Alabama 4 23 Arizona State 3 24 Nebraska 2 25 Florida State 1
How I came to this ranking: First, I put teams in groups of five, based on my initial impression of what I've seen out of them this year. Then I looked at the teams on the fringe of each grouping and moved them up or down as i saw fit. For example, I originally had Oregon in the 16-20 group but decided that they just didn't look right there and needed to be moved up. Did I jump them up too high? Maybe, but figuring out stuff like that is what this is all about.
The top 5 were pretty easy to come up with and I'm fairly set on them, although 1-3 could be interchangeable and Florida/Michigan could flip-flop. 6-10 is problematic for me. I'm still not sold on West Virginia or Louisville (I consider them to be pretty much the same team), yet they've done enough to be in the top 10 for now. I'd like to move Texas and LSU higher, but with one loss each I feel like I have to keep them behind WVU/L'ville. Georgia gets the 10 spot by being the next best SEC team. Homerism? Probably.
My reaction to the rest of the college football world is a resounding "meh." Nobody outside of my top 10 really impresses me much. Honestly, some teams in my top ten don't impress me much. So 11-25 is a ranking of who hasn't impressed me least, if that makes any sense. I'm not going through the rationale for all of 11-25, but I do want to explain some that may be controversial.
#11 TCU: Too high? Quite possibly. I liked what they did against Texas Tech's normally rootin'-tootin' offense, holding them to 3 points. And I figure if TCU played in the Big East, WVU's and Louisville's seasons would be twice as difficult as they are now.
#14 Tennessee: Homer? Yep. But I had decided before the Florida game that the winner would be in the top five and barring a blowout, the loser would be in the 11-15 range. Losing a 1-point game to the #4 puts you in about this spot.
#16 Notre Dame: Too low? Nope. I haven't liked the Irish all year. If I had been participating in the Blogpoll before this week my ballots would have borne that out. I will refer you to this post wherein I predicted ND to be "this year's Tennessee."
Other than that, if you want explanations on any other rankings, ask in the comments section below. Also, reasons why I'm an idiot or other snarky comments a re welcome. If you read this blog, this is your ballot, too. So let me know.
Oh, yeah, Games I watched this weekend: Bits & Pieces of West Virginia/Maryland, BYU/BC, Arkansas/Vandy, Iowa St./Iowa, VPI/Duke, Marshall/K St., Cincy/Ohio St., Pitt/Michigan St., Rutgers/Ohio, Mississippi/Kentucky, Texas Tech/TCU FSU/Clemson; Big Chunks of Louisville/Miami, Michigan/Notre Dame, Oregon/Oklahoma, Auburn/LSU; and all of UT/Florida.
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Florida Predictions Reviewed
Well, crap.
On one hand, losing to a team as good as Florida by only one point gives hope for the rest of the season. If the Vols play with the heart they showed against the Gators, a 9-3 record looks to be within reach. 9-3 is a vast improvement over last season.
But this is Tennessee, not Vanderbilt. Moral victories aren't what we do. So losing 20-21 against anybody isn't going to cut it, especially when you blow a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. The Vols must improve in some key areas to get back into the SEC East race.
More on that later this week. First, a review of Friday's predictions. As it turned out, not all of the predictions were that far off, they just didn't lead to the expected result.
--The Vols will make fewer mistakes than Florida. Tennessee had 4 penalties for 48 yards, Florida earned 7 for 53. Each team had key penalties that could have turned the game. Florida had a long punt return TD called back, and on the same drive the Vols had a INT return negated. In the turnover category, Chris Leak threw one interception while Erik Ainge tossed two. Ainge's last INT was a desperation 4th and long, but had the pick on the first play of the game been thrown on a line rather than an arch, the Vols would have scored and who knows how the game would have changed. Overall, both teams made mistakes but this category turned out to be less important than I had anticipated.
--Tennessee will be superior in the kicking game. I think I was right on this one. Wilhiot made both of his field goals, Florida missed both of theirs. Britton Colquitt averaged an outstanding 52 yards/punt. Florida was better on punt returns, but the Vols were better returning kickoffs. Overall, I was happy with Tennessee's special teams outside of the punt coverage.Had the Vols been able to get in position for a game-winning kick, I think Wilhoit would have drilled it. If my aunt had wheels, I think she'd be a bicycle.
--The Vols will win a back-and-forth game in the the fourth quarter. Almost. Instead it was the Gators coming from behind in the final period to take this one. As Rocky Top Talk points out, it was one play on the final drive that kept the Vols from trying some heroics of their own.
There's no denying it, this one hurts. But the season's by no means over, and the Vols can still be in the hunt of a trip to Atlanta with just a few improvements.
Later this week: closing the book on Florida and preparing for the Thundering Herd.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
IFTIT: Florida Week
Tennessee vs. Florida.
As a rivalry, it doesn't have the ability to divide families like Alabama-Auburn. It doesn't get the national hype of Michigan-Ohio State. It's not "LA Cool" like USC-UCLA. It's not snobbish like Harvard-Yale. There's no axes, jugs, barrels, eggs, boots, or buckets up for grabs. But if you're reading this, there's a good chance that seeing those two names beside each other gets your blood boiling.
Tennessee vs. Florida. Damn. It's time.
IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!
Cram Session
If, like me, you're watching the big game from couch rather than the bleachers, you might want to catch up on some last-minute reading. Here's some suggestions to get you started:
The Great Debates (well, actually they just swapped punches spit questions) between Rocky Top Talk and EDSBS.
UTsports.com's game notes.
The Gainesville Sun's History of the Series.
Bloggers Predict: The Worldwide Leader in Jorts, Fulmer's Belly, Yours Truly .
And if reading requires too much efforet for you, check out the YouTubes: Tennessee-Florida
Friday, September 15, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Florida Predictions, Old-Skool Style
Nothing says "huge game" like Florida week. As such, I'm going back to the core values of Tennessee football for this week's predictions. I'm basing my belief that the Vols will win on three of General Neyland's 7 Maxims of Football.
--The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win. When one team has the advantage of being vastly superior in talent, sometimes they can get away with making a few mistakes. Neither team has that luxury Saturday. The playing field is so even when Tennessee plays Florida that every turnover, every penalty is magnified. On Saturday, the Vols will make fewer mistakes than Florida. What makes me so sure? Two things: the friendly confines of Neyland Stadium and a renewed attention to detail that Coach Cut brought with him when he came back to Knoxville.
--Press the kicking game, for here is where the breaks are made. In 2004, James Wilhoit followed his OMG YOU FREAKIN' IDIOT YOU JUST MISSED THE EXTRA POINT DIE DIE DIE with a game-winning 50-yard field goal. Last season, Britton Colquitt had his own OMG YOU JUST THREW AN INTERCEPTION ON A FAKE PUNT THAT THE COACHES DIDN'T CALL YOU JUST DID IT ANYWAY BECAUSE YOU'RE AN IDIOT DIE DIE DIE. This weekend, he gets his chance to atone. He will, and Tennessee will be superior in the kicking game. In a game like this, you take points when you can get them and you have to win the field position battle. The Vols have the weapons to do just that.
--Carry the fight to Florida and keep it there for 60 minutes. Both of Florida's games have been over by halftime. The Cal game was over in the middle of the third quarter, but Tennessee had to go the full 60 minutes against Air Force. That experience will help them when the going gets tough Saturday night, and the Vols will win a back-and-forth game in the 4th quarter. There is a trend here: in recent wins in this series, the Vols have been tested before beating Florida. In 1998, UT won a squeaker at Syracuse; 2001 saw the Vols play a whole season before wining in Gainesville; and the Vols were pushed to the limit by Marshall a week before playing the Gators in 2003. A 2004 beat-down of UNLV prior to beating UF is the exception to this rule.
So you need a score to go along with all that? How about this--Erik Ainge hits Robert Meachem in the back of the endzone and the UT defense fends off a late Florida drive for a 34-27 Tennessee win.
Is it gametime yet?
3 Thoughts and a Coud of Dust: Justin Harrell Superstar
Hate Week quickly turned into Justin Harrell Lovefest '06 on Wednesday when the senior defensive lineman announced that despite a season-ending injury, he will play against Florida. As a result, Big Orange Country is all a tizzy. Should we be? Well...maybe. Here's three implications I think Harrell's announcement will have on this weekend:
--Harrell's willingness to play injured is an inspiration to the Vol players. CPF took away the green no-contact jerseys in Fall practice to show the team how important it is to be tough as a football player. If anybody didn't get the message then, they get it now. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself in the fourth quarter when you're tired and a little banged up. It's a lot harder to feel sorry for yourself when you look out on the field and see your teammate playing with a torn biceps tendon.
--Justin Harrell suiting up has brought an urgency back to this rivalry. In the 1990s, UT/UF was the alpha and omega of SEC football. In recent years, there's been a slight decline in the play of both programs, while other programs in the conference, most notably UGA, have gotten better. Harrell's insistence on playing this weekend brings back a certain front-page worthiness to the game.
--Harrell's announcement has further energized an already juiced Tennessee fan base, and Neyland Stadium will be L-O-U-D on Saturday. Well, duh CFAJ, it's Neyland Stadium, and it's Florida week. Look, we all know Neyland doesn't always live up to its potential in the "noise" category. It did against Cal, and the crowd helped change that game. But Cal's not used to playing in that kind of environment, and Florida is. True, but with the ever-increasing complexity of offenses and defenses in the college game, being able to change the play at the line of scrimmage is critical to success. The Gators might not have as many false start penalties as Cal did, but the Vols can gain an edge if the crowd limits Chris Leak's ability to direct the offense from the line.
So will Harrell's return be enough to propel the Vols to victory. No...not by itself at least. Coming up later: Oooh, predictions!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Justin Harrell Doesn't Eat Honey, He Chews Bees
Everyone seemed to like my "Superman Wears Justin Harrell Pajamas" headline yesterday. So in the interest of beating a joke into the ground, here's more fun facts about Justin Harrell:
--Life doesn't give Justin Harrell lemons. Life asks him which fruit he wants.
--Justin Harrell's calender goes from March 31st to April 2nd, no one fools with Justin Harrell.
--If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Justin Harrell says its beef, then it's f'ing beef.
--Justin Harrell once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.
--It's no use crying over spilled milk... Unless that was Justin Harrell's milk. Oh you are so screwed.
--Justin Harrell is the leading cause of death in Florida offensive linemen.
--Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Justin Harrell laughs at Superman for having a weakness.
--The truth may hurt, but it doesn't hurt as much as Justin Harrell.
--Justin Harrell once arm wrestled Superman. The stipulations were the loser had to wear his underwear on the outside of his pants.
--Justin Harrell wasn't born, he was unleashed.
--Justin Harrell once visited the Virgin Islands. They are now The Islands.
--"Simon Says" should be renamed "Justin Harrell Says" because if Justin Harrell says something then you better fricking do it.
--Every mathematical inequality officially ends with "< Justin Harrell"
--When you open a can of whoop-ass, Justin Harrell jumps out.
--When Batman is in trouble, he turns on the Justin Harrell signal.
--When Justin Harrell pees into the wind, the wind changes direction.
--You can lead a horse to water. Justin Harrell can make him drink.
--The Incredible Hulk once got so angry that it turned into Justin Harrell.
--Justin Harrell went out to the desert, and was bitten by a rattlesnake. The snake died.
--Your attraction to Justin Harrell in no way affects your sexual orientation.
--Justin Harrell tells Bob Barker when the price is right.
--It is a known fact that when Time magazine awards "The Man of Year*", there is fine print on the bottom of the cover that says, " *besides Justin Harrell."
--Justin Harrell doesn't make threats. He makes facts.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Franklin D. Roosevelt never met Justin Harrell.
--Justin Harrell once went into a bar, and asked for a 'Justin Harrell'. He received three shots of Jack Daniel's, a shot of kerosene and four shots of tequila mixed. When seeing this, Chris Leak approached the bar and asked for a Justin Harrell. He got sacked.
--When Justin Harrell turns on an Xbox the screen just says "You Win" and turns itself off again.
--G.I. Joe has Justin Harrell action figures.
and of course,
--Superman wears Justin Harrell pajamas.
Sure Happy It's Thursday Contest Of the Week: Maryland at West Virginia
Once again, the urge to preview a local game of interest has to take a back seat to the big boys. Much thought was given to breaking down the Tennessee Tech/Middle Tennessee game, mostly so I could use the derogatory "Lil' Middle" to describe MTSU. Oh, I just used it. Guess I can preview WVU/UMd now. On paper, this looks like a rout. But as always, the Sure Happy It's Thursday Contest Of the Week has little to do with real live football players and everything to do with meaningless crap. So here we go!
Round 1: Mascots
The West Virginia mascot is the Mountaineer. Ostensibly, the Mountaineer is a rugged outdoors type who hunts and traps for sustenance, but I'm sure he's really just some moonshine-chugger who likes to get loaded up and shoot things (don't we all?). Maryland's mascot is the Terrapin, which is a $3 word for "turtle." I always like to postulate on which team's mascot would win in a fight, but this doesn't even seem fair. Obviously, the mountaineer would just flip the turtle on its back and shoot it. Unless, of course, the turtle's name is Michelangelo, then we've got a fight. Round 1 goes to West Virginia.
Round 2: Alumni
Looking at a list of famous WVU alumni, one name jumps out at me: Don Knotts! That's right, Barney Fife was a Mountaineer. How cool is that? Other notables: nepotism beneficiaries Terry and Tommy Bowden, author Stephen Coonts, and radio announcer Herb Morrison, who coined "Oh, the humanity!" on-air as the Hindinburg went down. So what does Maryland have? Weel, quite a roster, including Seinfeld creator Larry David, Muppets creator Jim Henson, radio kook Art Bell, sideline hottie Bonnie Bernstien, and Maury Povich's wife. While UMd does not have the star power of a Don Freakin' Knotts, the do have depth. Round 2 goes to Maryland.
Tiebreaker: Lightning Round, Best 3/5
Best Campus Landmark: Maryland's campus features the Point of Failure. That doesn't sound good, but it's a cool idea to be able to pinpoint where exactly mid-day drinking binges and late night playstation tournaments did you in. Advantage: Maryland
Cooler State Flag: Maryland's flag looks like some psychedelic checkerboard. West Virginia's has a cartoon on it. Slight Advantage: Maryland
Hottest Dance Team: Judge for yourself here and here. To keep this thing close, let's call it Advantage: W. Virginia
Music: UMd has Maryland, My Maryland. How creative. WVU has the sing-a-longable Country Roads, Take Me Home. Advantage: West Virginia
Food: Is moonshine considered a food? It should be, anyway. Ooh, but Maryland's got crab cakes. I think that does it. Advantage: Maryland
So there you have it. In a tight one, Maryland shocks West Virginia tonight. Football and crab cakes, that's what Maryland does.
Labels: Previews
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Superman Wears Justin Harrell Pajamas
According to Volquest.com and the Tennessean, Justin Harrell will play against Florida this weekend, torn biceps muscle tendon and all.
(strikethrough mine, for being an idiot)
The Tennessean's story is here. Volquest.com's Rob Lewis says it is a one-game situation.
Regardless of how many snaps Harrell actually plays, this has to be a huge morale boost for the team. Heck, it's a huge morale boost for me.
UPDATE 8:45 pm: More reading:
Espn.com article, Rivals.com free article, Volquest.com ($) article, and UTsports.com.
More as the story develops.
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Injuries, a Little D, and a Lot of O
--When I posted on Sunday about Inky Johnson and Justin Harrell's injuries, I wrote that the news could have been worse. At the time I was mostly relieved that Johnson had no spinal injury. I had no idea the extent of the damage done to his shoulder, specifically that it could be career-ending. The reports that Inky is in high spirits after such an injury is a real testament to the young man and an apparent inspiration to the Vol defense. The team will have Inky and Harrell on their minds for sure Saturday night, but they will also have them on their uniforms. The team will wear a uniform patch to show support for their teammates.
--Earlier this week, Joel at Rocky Top Talk dissected the Florida spread option and asked what makes it different from what Air Force does. My response was that the basic idea is the same, but it's a matter of when and where the offense makes its reads. Tennessee doesn't see what Air Force does on a regular basis, but they do see what Florida does quite often. Coach Chavis backed up that sentiment with this quote in the Tennessean: "[Florida's offense is] not an offense that's unique. Gee whiz, about half the teams in the country are running it now. It's just that Florida is doing it with more talent than most."
--Many Vol fans were ready to throw Erik Ainge on the trash heap after a shaky first Fall scrimmage (I believe I said to give him another chance--let's check the archives--yep, that's what I said). Sunday Morning Quarterback has this to say about the Big Orange QB: "Ainge remains the national leader in passing efficiency, tied for the lead in passing touchdowns (7), second in yards per attempt (to, somewhat ironically, USAFA's Shaun Carney), fourth in yards per game and third in completion percentage among QBs with at least 20 passes this season - i.e., virtually flawless in two games."
Last year the Vols wasted a defensive gem in Gainesville with total offensive ineptitude. This year looks like it could be very different. It may take the offense bailing out the limping defense for the Vols to get a win Saturday.
We Must Protect This Cheese: The Death of Trash Talk
When I first heard Florida safety Tim Joiner say he was coming to Tennessee's kitchen to take the cheese, I was immediately concerned for the security of Travis Henry. Or maybe he's coming for our baseball team, UT has some pitchers known to throw "hard cheese."
Turns out, that's not the cheese Joiner was talking about at all. It's more of a metaphorical cheese. See, the cheese is Tennessee's pride. By making a "sandwich" with it, Joiner will have destroyed it. Ah, clever words, Mr. Joiner. And the mustard and mayonnaise Joiner mentioned in his quote could perhaps refer to the hopes and dreams of Vol fans. Tim Joiner is most definitely a warrior poet.
What about the turkey? He meant that literally. Joiner carries cold cuts in his helmet. Says they help him think.
Alright, so I'm probably the last blogger to get around to making fun of Tim Joiner. And this is probably the cheesiest article about it (HA!). But the truth is that Joiner's sandwich comments mark the end of quality trash talk in college football. We've seen it coming for some time, haven't we? Steve Spurrier, bastard that he is, was the Shakespeare of trash talk. His classics such as "Free-Shoes University" and "Can't spell Citrus without U-T" stand up against Hamlet and Othello any day.
Trash talk became such a hot commodity in the late 90s that Monday Night Football "mic'd up" players and let us hear what they said at half-time. Football movies have often featured trash talk as the main dialogue between players. When Peyton Manning deadpanned the line "your defense is offensive" in a Madden commercial, it served as a deconstruction of the form.
But now the market on trash talk has passed its saturation point. Everybody is so enamored with the process of smack that even a weaksauce line like Joiner's sent every reporter in Knoxville flocking to Vol players looking for a reaction. Would Robert Meachem retort with "We're gonna drink your kool-aid"? Would Jarrod Mayo warn Joiner of the choking hazard presented by the plastic on individually wrapped slices?
Um, no. The response by the team seems to be a collective "Huh?" So why haven't the Vols fired back with any trash of their own? Because talking trash, at least through the media, is ineffective. The Tennessee players know Joiner's comments will have no bearing on Saturday's game. Joiner probably knew it was stupid shortly after he said it.
WR Jayson Swain summed up the death of trash talk best: "It ain't about talking no more. It ain't about getting on the Internet. It ain't about getting on the shows and talking about it. It's about going out there and playing Saturday."
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
I Hate This Week
Not that I have anything against the week itself. But I hate this week.
Let me clarify. I don't hate this week, but I hate this week. It's Florida week, and I hate Florida. I grew up knowing that if Tennessee could get over the hump against Alabama, the Vols would rule the SEC out right. We got over that hump in the mid-90s, but waiting for us on the other side were the mighty Gators with their gawdawful "chomp" and bhunn-da-da-da-da-da GO GATORS! And I hate them for that.
Tennessee had earned their rightful spot atop the SEC. Florida came out of nowhere with some johnny-come-lately cocky s.o.b. in a visor (I was surprised to see Florida celebrating 100 years of football this season, most Gator fans think football started in 1989). Before Spurrier, Florida had as many SEC championships as Vandy. But SOS led the Gators to the promised land six times, routinely peeing on the Vols all the way. He made Florida fun to hate. Then he left, and it's not as much fun anymore. And I hate them for that.
Food doesn't taste as good this week. The air isn't clean. The sun doesn't shine and even if it does, I hate sunshine. I hate the Sunshine State. I hate everything about Florida. I hate Disney World because it's in Florida. Beaches suck. That Jimmy Buffett is full of shit, man.
I don't like flea markets because you can't spell "swap meet" without s-w-a-m-p. I've started buying only California orange juice (hey, we own those guys!). I won't buy bologna made by Oscar Mayer, because I'm pretty sure he's related to Urban Meyer. And I hate them for that.
But it's OK. At 8 pm Saturday, all my hate gets released as I watch my Vols pummel the Gators. There's nothing sweeter than seeing Tennessee beat Florida. Unless it's seeing Tennessee beat Alabama. I hate those guys, too...
Monday, September 11, 2006
Closing the Book on Air Force
Last season, CPF referred to the Vols' 5-6 fortunes as a perfect storm of disappointment. Last week, I called the Cal game a perfect storm of achievement, a night when nobody was going to beat the Big Orange. At this rate Tennessee football would give Jim Cantore a bulge in his pants, because Saturday night Air Force brought a near-perfect storm of their own to Neyland.
How do you upset a team that clearly out-talents you? Start by out-scheming them, stay disciplined, and hope that they make a mistake. Erik Ainge made that mistake on an otherwise perfect night, giving AFA the ball when the Vols had a chance to go up by three touchdowns. Being military men, you can bet the Air Force players are as disciplined as any the Vols will see this year. As for the scheme part, the triple option attack that 95% of college football considers obsolete looked entirely en vogue as the Falcons picked apart UT's defense.
Does that mean we need to worry about Florida running out of the flexbone on Saturday? I doubt it; learning how to run the offense takes twice as long as learning how to defend it. And that was the problem on Saturday. Air Force has run the triple option for as long as I can remember. Nobody else on the Vols' schedule runs it. Hardly any other team in college football does anymore. AFA's Mountain West opponents see it from the Falcons every year, they have to be ready for it. I'm sure getting ready for the various versions of the spread offense that teams like Cal and Florida run was a much higher priority in the minds of UT's coaching staff during the offseason.
And that's how you get a 20-point favorite pulling out a 1-point win: a determined underdog that employs an unconventional offense, coached by a living legend, playing a team coming off a huge win and staring an archrival in the face the next week. It was a near-perfect storm for Air Force.
So what's next? For Tennessee, the losses suffered on Saturday are way more important than what the scoreboard said at the end of the game. All that matters right now is that the Vols are 2-0, but heading into the Florida game without two key starters: Justin Harrell and Inky Johnson. For the Vols to win on Saturday, the Tennessee offense needs to continue the roll it's on and the defense needs to get back to the confidence it had in the Cal game.
And that's regardless of who's in the game.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Time to Grow Up
Although the news could have been worse for Tennessee late Sunday evening, it was still pretty bad. The Vols have lost two starters injured in the Air Force game: senior defensive tackle Justin Harrell and junior cornerback Inky Johnson.
Watching Johnson getting carted off the field Saturday was one of those there-are-more- important-things-than-football moments. Thankfully there were no serious head or neck injuries found. It is sad to see Harrell's career at UT end two games into a season he didn't have to come back for.
So what now? Volquest.com talks about the situation in-depth ($), but the basic idea is that the young guys Fulmer has been waiting on to grow up can't wait anymore (on the d-line, Demonte Bolden, that means you). In the secondary, the Vols will have to shuffle their nickle and dime packages.
Not what you want to hear with the Gators coming to town.
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Air Force Predictions Reviewed
A review of my Friday predictions, only this time with hat in hand.
--"Air Force will break big plays in the 1st and 4th quarters" [see, I was right!] "but not in between" [oh, crap]. The rationale here was that Tennessee would take a couple of series to get used to the triple option. Unfortunately, Tennessee never did figure out Air Force's offense. In fact, had the Falcons kicked the extra point rather than going for two, the game might still be going on right now, seeing that neither team could keep the other from scoring.
--"The Vols will pass for over 300 yards" [right again!] "but it won't be just one QB getting the stats" [oh, double crap]. Erik Ainge had another career night, this time going for 333 yards and 3 TDs. His one INT ws costly, however. Still, all other UT quarterbacks saw the field from their vantage point deep within Fulmer's hip pocket.
--"The Vols will rush for over 300 yards," and I might as well stop right there. Montario Hardesty played well, but the Vols' ground game never got going, partially because Air Force was selling out against the run and partially due to the hot hand of Ainge. Had I realized how many good drives Air Force was going to put together I would never have made a 300 passing/300 rushing prediction. Plus, I'm starting to see that with the new "game-shortening" rules in effect it's very hard to get enough snaps to pile up those kind of yards.
I waffled all week between predicting a close, "sandwich" type game and a blowout. I went with the blowout. I was wrong. I underestimated Air Force and their athletic ability. I overestimated our defenses' ability to learn the triple option in a week. The players and coaches said they were focused and down to earth going to the game, and I bought it. So I goofed. I completely misread this game.
But man, I nailed that Cal game!
Later this week, closing the book on Air Force and getting ready for those s.o.b.s from Gainesville.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
See, What I Meant To Say...
Ok, heapin' helpin's of humble pie coming up later when I review my game predictions. Obviously, it was a much closer game than I (or most Vol fans) expected. But, a win is a win, so let's take it and move on to Florida.
But what went wrong, you ask? Well, in the quick analysis, the old-fashioned triple option is dang near impossible to prepare for in a week. I figured UT would just out-athlete Air Force. When I tried to explain that idea to my wife during the game, she presented me with this Occam's razor: "Don't you think you have to be pretty athletic to be in the Air Force?"
Well, duh.
So the bottom line is that I, like most of Big Orange Country, underestimated how tough this game would be. Chalk it up to a lesson learned.
Friday, September 08, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Week 2 Pedictions
--Air Force will break big plays in the 1st and 4th quarters, but not in between. Earlier in the week, Chavis said that he wanted to see overruns in practice because that means the players will be in the right spot at game speed. I believe that it will take the Tennessee defense a couple of drives to settle down and learn the pacing of AFA's flexbone offense. You'll see the same thing in the 4th quarter when the twos are in.
--The Vols will pass for 300 yards, but it won't be just one QB getting the stats. Don't worry, I'm not calling for a two-quarter back system (far from it). But I do think Crompton will see lots of action after the game has been put away.
--The Vols will Rush for over 300 yards, but again it won't be one player getting the glory. I'm calling for two backs over 100 yards, and a couple more to combine for 100+. The dominance of UT's offensive line will continue, and the Vols will out-athelete Air Force.
It is tempting to call for a close game here, what with the residual excitement of last week's win and looking ahead to Florida next week. But realistically, it's looking more like Tennessee 49, Air Force 10. And I'm not trying to disrespect the Air Force players. However, the truth is that this is not one of the ranked Air Force teams of years past. Normally, there's only room for one service academy to be good, and right now it's Paul Johnson's Navy team.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Sure Happy It's Thursday Contest of the Week: Oregon State at Boise State
Forget the fact that the NFL kicks off tonight, there's college football baby! And because nothing says "great college football action" like a Thursday night game, here's your Sure Happy It's Tursday Contest Of the Week preview. Why "Contest of the Week" instead of "Game of the Week"? Because S.H.I.T. C.O.W. pretty much sums up most Thursday night games.
I've resisted the urge to preview Urbana at Tennessee-Martin, even though I grew up about 40 minutes away from Martin and always enjoyed supporting the Racers Pacers Skyhawks. Instead we're going to delve into the match-up between the Broncos and Beavers. But on Thursday, it's not about statistics and personnel, it's about meaningless trivial crap like noteable alumni and imaginary mascot fights. So here we go!
Round 1: Alumni
After an exhaustive 30-second search, I've found that Boise State's most famous alum is film director Michael Hoffman. Mr. Hoffman directed A Midsummer Night's Dream and a bunch of stuff I've never heard of. He also claims a writing credit for A Midsummer Night's Dream, although I'm pretty sure Shakespeare wrote that. So the guy may be a liar.
Noteable Oregon State alumni include the guy who invented the computer mouse and Dick Fosbury, inventor of the Fosbury Flop. There's also a Beaver who is a former Playmate of the Year. Yes, I realize the obviuos joke there, and no, I'm not going to do it.
So it boils down to a lying director against a nerd, an athelete, and a hottie. Pretty obvious who I'm going with here. What makes this a home run is that OSU's POY is the first Playmate of the Year to earn a college degree. I'm sure her parents are very proud. Round 1 goes to Oregon State.
Round 2: Mascots
Basically, a Bronco is an animal that, when sat on long enough, will start doing what you tell it to do. Beavers, on the other hand, can be quite nasty. I think that a beaver would build a dam upsteam from the bronco's water supply, thereby weakening the bronco. Then, the beaver would sneak up to the bronco in the night and gnaw through his legs, then build another dam from the legs just for show. Round 2 goes to OSU.
There you have it. In a rout, OSU takes BSU, blue turf and all.
Enjoy your Thursday night football.
Unhateable
I said it on Tuesday, and Knoxville blogger Masses of Everything gets it, too: you can't hate Air Force when they come to Neyland Saturday. It's easy to hate just about every team in the SEC. It's easy to hate Miami and Notre Dame. And even though Cal was a friendly visitor and mostly gracious in defeat, it was pretty easy to work up a little hate for them, if for no other reason than their membership in the pompous PAC-10. But service academies are off-limits when it comes to hate, unless you're in the military, then you're allowed to hate whatever branch you're not in.
I'm not saying "don't support the Vols this weekend." But I am saying that this opponent, more than any other, deserves our respect.
On another note, since I always enjoy patting myself on the back, here's an article from the News-Sentinel that confirms what I predicted last Friday and what we all saw on Saturday: Tennessee's offensive line dominated the best defense coach Tedford has ever had.
Tomorrow: Another round of brilliant predictions!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Majors, Chavis, and Respect(?)
--The 1956 Tennessee football team will be honored before Saturday's contest with Air Force. That means former head coach Johnny Majors will be in town, which is always potential for some snide remarks. Here's hoping Johny won't be bitter and UT fans will recognize all he did for the university.
--Interesting words from coach Chavis in today's Tennessean, speaking about the difference in the offense this year: "I don't want to be critical of anybody. But there were some things that were missing that David's done a great job of making sure they're not missing anymore." In case you can't read between lines, he's saying that he doesn't want to blame Randy Sanders for the offense's suckage in recent years, but pretty much has to.
--Worried that last Saturday's performance against Cal will lead to oversized egos and a potential letdown this weekend? Take comfort in this quote from Justin Harrell: "It's just one victory. We've got 11 more games to play, and the next one is Air Force...I know at the end of the season, if we take care of business, we'll have our respect back. But one game ain't going to do it."
Hopefully the whole team has their heads on that straight.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Closing the Book on Cal
If last season's 5-6 disappointment was a "perfect storm" of failure as CPF has described it, then Saturday's 35-18 dismantling of Cal was a perfect storm of another kind. The Vols were obviously "fired up, focused and prepared" as Fulmer talked about all preseason, to the point that I'm not sure how many teams could have fared better against UT than the Golden Bears did on Saturday.
The task now becomes holding on to this momentum. Tennessee in recent years has had a way of letting big wins go for naught by losing the next big game. In 2001, the Vols followed up a huge upset win over Florida by choking in the SEC championship game against LSU. Last year UT followed the stunning OT win in Baton Rouge with, well, the rest of last year.
So what's next? Air Force comes to town Saturday looking to play the role of spoiler. Can the Falcons pull the upset? Yes, but they probably won't. Working against Tennessee is the fact that it's hard to "hate" a service academy. Plus, AFA runs the triple option, an offense not seen enough to work on any time previous to this week and tricky enough to give even a talented defense fits. Add the hangover effect from Saturday's big win and you have potential problems for the Big Orange.
Let's hope they stay "fired up, focused, and prepared."
Monday, September 04, 2006
Putting the "D'OH!" in Colorado and Other Non-Vol Notes
Was leaving Boise State for Colorado a lateral move for head coach Dan Hawkins? The more I think about it, the more shocked I am about Montana State's 19-10 win over Colorado Saturday. It's not even like the Buffs lost to I-AA perennial powerhouse Montana, it's Montana State. Colorado won a national championship in 1990. A year later, Washington won the title. Seeing how far those programs have fallen since the early 90s makes me feel like one year of 5-6 isn't so bad.
Speaking of scheduling I-AA opponents, shame on Georgia. It's bad enough for the Dawgs to play Georgia Southern, but I'll give them a pass on that every few years or so. However, bringing in Western Kentucky is a sham. If I were a Georgia season ticket holder, I'd hang myself be furious over paying full price to see that glorified scrimmage. Look UGA, there are plenty of bad I-A teams you could bring in to get an easy win and make it look somewhat legit.
Then again, if Georgia can beat a I-AA school 48-12, think about what they'll do to Colorado in a couple of weeks.
To paraphrase from Macbeth, preseason expectations are a step a team must o'erleap or else fall down upon. Last year, Tennessee fell down upon that step. This year, it's inevitable that some other team with high expectations will "pull a Tennessee" and fall flat, too. My pick for that team: Notre Dame. Saturday's game against Georgia Tech reminded me a lot of Tennessee's opening game against UAB last year. Make excuses for that offensive outing all you want, Golden Domers. That's what we did, too.
Later this week: put the Cal game to bed and head into the wild blue yonder. Plus, the Sure Happy It's Thursday Game of the Week!
NKOTB
A Big Orange welcome to new Tennessee blog The 8th Maxim. Believe it or not, that's what I was going to call this blog before I came up with CFAJ. Great minds think...something.
I'm excited about this new blog because even though I've only been doing this for a little over a month now, I've now got seniority over someone. WHOOO-HOOOO!
Just kidding, 8th Maxim. Welcome aboard.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Predictions Reviewed
I thought I was going out on a limb with some of my Friday predictions, but maybe I'm smarter than I think...but probably not.
--Alright, I goofed. My bad, I'm sorry. I was crazy to think Arian Foster would out-rush Marshawn Lynch. Foster only gained 69 yards, while Lynch romped through the Vols D for a whopping 74. Interestingly both Foster and Lynch rushed for more yards than Cal did as a team (the Bears ended the day with 64 yards on the ground). While Foster didn't gain more yards than Lynch like I thought he would, Tennessee's offensive line did control the game and the triple threat combo of Foster, Montario Hardesty, and LaMarcus Coker help the Vols run up 216 total yards on the ground and over 5 yards per carry.
In all seriousness, Lynch is a heckuva running back. He's versatile (Lynch led Cal with 5 receptions) and he has that little extra burst that great backs have. Every time he was tackled one-on-one, he fell forward for an extra yard. When he was gang tackled he squirted out of the pile for an extra two. He's going to give a lot of defenses trouble this year...a lot of PAC-10 defenses that is.
--Britton Colquitt had the day I expected him to have, including a 59-yard rainmaker of a punt that flipped the field on Cal. Even though the Bears were able to muster a couple of first downs on the ensuing drive, Colquitt and some excellent coverage had pinned Cal deep enough to render them harmless.
--Although the weather didn't have the kind of impact I expected it to, noise definitely did. Cal had trouble most of the day with audibles, and a couple of false-starts thrown in prove that no matter how loud you pipe in Rocky Top during practice (or how many times you play the video game, Mr. Longshore), it still doesn't prepare you for a day at Neyland Stadium.
In the end, I picked UT to win 24-17. Looks like I gave Cal too much credit, or the Big Orange too little. Then again, it's been a long time since we've seen the Vols put together a complete game like that one.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
IFTIT
To quote John Ward:
"And as the crowd begins to roar and roar and roar to the deafening cheers of [108,000] fans.
The Volunteers coming out to the gate in Orange and White.
The crowd comes alive,
The Volunteers are ready,
It's time ladies and gentlemen.
IT'S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE!"
Friday, September 01, 2006
3 Thoughts and a Cloud of Dust: Predictions Edition
As Johnny Majors used to say, the hay's in the barn. All major preparations have been made and all that's left to do is the hitting. Consternation, vacillation, and anticipation sum up the stages I've been through all summer thinking about this game. A month ago when I started this blog I fully intended to pick a
--Arian Foster will out rush Marshawn Lynch. After seeing how hands-on Fulmer's been with the offensive line during spring and summer camp, I now have more confidence in that group than any other unit on the team. They will take control of the game on Saturday and in the process open up running lanes for Foster. Meanwhile, the Vol defense will dare
--Field position will be a key, and Britton Colquitt will begin to cement his place in the Colquitt line of punters with a huge night. I believe both defenses will be good enough that this game could look eerily close to last year's UGA/UT game as far as being a field position battle. Of course this time, we know how to win it.
--Environment will play a factor. Humidity, noise, and distance from home will show on the
And since I have to back all that gibberish up with a score, let's say