Bigger signature win: Jones against #13 SC or Pruitt against #21 Auburn?

#1
revjayp

revjayp

👈🏼That’s my boy, Knox.
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#1
For me, it’s Pruitt/Auburn. I look at SC like I do Ky. Caught lightning in a bottle a few times but has never been a powerhouse football program. Auburn had SEC Championship/Playoffs/NC aspirations. Plus, it was at their place. What say you VolNation?
 
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#5
#5
The Auburn win is better, but they're also very different wins.

A few of the reasons this was big to me personally:
We snapped an 8 year long losing streak to the SEC West.
We won on the road against a ranked SEC team.
November 2016 was our last league win, to end it at a premier program's expense is huge.
JG was the top rated QB in the country this week against one of the league's better defenses.
 
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#8
#8
BearCat204 said:
The jury is still out IMO. A signature win to me is a win that vaults a team to the next level. The 2013 win over SC didn't really do that IMO and I believe we lost the next 5, including Vandy and Kentucky.
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Agreed. 2013 SC was a better team IMO. But that wasn't a sign of things to come.
 
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#9
#9
This Auburn win was better for all of those reasons listed.

Plus, how refreshing was it that instead of kneeling and crying because we won, our coach goes into the post game presser and starts talking about how it is unacceptable to give up a touchdown in the last minute of a game...we haven't seen that from a coach on the Hill in a long, long time !!!
 
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#10
#10
IndianaVol said:
This Auburn win was better for all of those reasons listed.

Plus, how refreshing was it that instead of kneeling and crying because we won, our coach goes into the post game presser and starts talking about how it is unacceptable to give up a touchdown in the last minute of a game...we haven't seen that from a coach on the Hill in a long, long time !!!
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Sets a different bar for the team, you know?

Expect to win, expect greatness, your low bar ends up higher by default.
 
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#11
#11
BearCat204 said:
The jury is still out IMO. A signature win to me is a win that vaults a team to the next level. The 2013 win over SC didn't really do that IMO and I believe we lost the next 5, including Vandy and Kentucky.
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I agree with you on that. I simply mean winning a game that you weren’t supposed to win. I think Dooley’s almost win at LSU could’ve that for him. Kiffin Smashing Ga was his. He also beat the crap out of SC and should’ve beat Bama. I’ll argue (a totally different thread) that he was our best football coach until Pruitt. He was a total arse but knew how to coach.
 
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#12
#12
IndianaVol said:
This Auburn win was better for all of those reasons listed.

Plus, how refreshing was it that instead of kneeling and crying because we won, our coach goes into the post game presser and starts talking about how it is unacceptable to give up a touchdown in the last minute of a game...we haven't seen that from a coach on the Hill in a long, long time !!!
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Something that really caught me off guard in the presser:
I don't have the quote, but Pruitt said something to the effect of "Tennessee is already a premier program. The program is here. We need a premier team, and we want to do that for the fans." He said this 6 games into his career.

I think we need to move on and just forget Butch Jones existed, but I can't help myself from noticing that's a far cry from "it takes 7 years to build a program in the SEC" while in year 4 of your tenure.
 
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#13
#13
revjayp said:
For me, it’s Pruitt/Auburn. I look at SC like I do Ky. Caught lightning in a bottle a few times but has never been a powerhouse football program. Auburn had SEC Championship/Playoffs/NC aspirations. Plus, it was at their place. What say you VolNation?
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I'm not sure. South Carolina was a great team that year at a non-powerhouse program. Auburn is a mediocre team at a great program. That South Carolina team was better than this Auburn team; I think that's pretty clear.

Remember, that win over South Carolina ruined their season. They had already lost to Georgia in week 2, but by the time they played Tennessee, Georgia had a conference loss and lost to Missouri on that same day, giving them 2 conference losses. South Carolina would have been back in the driver's seat in the East if they won. Then South Carolina beat #5 Missouri the very next week to give them their only conference loss, but they finished behind them because they had 2 conference losses. That was an extremely disappointing, kick-in-the-nuts loss for them; they ultimately would have played in the SECCG for the 2nd time in 4 years if they won.

That was a really good South Carolina team, even if their success was fleeting. They finished 4th in the country.
 
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#14
#14
05_never_again said:
I'm not sure. South Carolina was a great team that year at a non-powerhouse program. Auburn is a mediocre team at a great program. That South Carolina team was better than this Auburn team; I think that's pretty clear.

Remember, that win over South Carolina ruined their season. They had already lost to Georgia in week 2, but by the time they played Tennessee, Georgia had a conference loss and lost to Missouri on that same day, giving them 2 conference losses. South Carolina would have been back in the driver's seat in the East if they won. Then South Carolina beat #5 Missouri the very next week to give them their only conference loss, but they finished behind them because they had 2 conference losses. That was an extremely disappointing, kick-in-the-nuts loss for them; they ultimately would have played in the SECCG for the 2nd time in 4 years if they won.

That was a really good South Carolina team, even if their success was fleeting. They finished 4th in the country.
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True. But it Felt like an fluke rather than a launching pad. Either way, good points. I still like the Auburn win. 👊🏼
 
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#17
#17
revjayp said:
For me, it’s Pruitt/Auburn. I look at SC like I do Ky. Caught lightning in a bottle a few times but has never been a powerhouse football program. Auburn had SEC Championship/Playoffs/NC aspirations. Plus, it was at their place. What say you VolNation?
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Parameters for a "signature win"??
 
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#18
#18
revjayp said:
For me, it’s Pruitt/Auburn. I look at SC like I do Ky. Caught lightning in a bottle a few times but has never been a powerhouse football program. Auburn had SEC Championship/Playoffs/NC aspirations. Plus, it was at their place. What say you VolNation?
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Pruitt- Auvurn in my mind
 
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#24
#24
I don't know that one better than the other. Both could be argued. But, don't think any doubt that Auburn was sweeter because we've been down for so long.
 
#25
#25
jakez4ut said:
will it matter if we finish 5-7 like Jones did?
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I don’t think so. It doesn’t mean you are all the way back. Injuries, talent deficiencies, emotional investment and remaining schedule play a big role. I think “signature win” means you won a game you weren’t supposed to against a better team.
 
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