DiderotsGhost
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I first came to VolNation back in 2010 during the Dooley coaching search. We've been bad for most of the time I've been here with the semi-exceptions of 2015, 2016, and 2021. This has been the place to keep us all sane during the down times. It's the online equivalent of "Cheers" for Vols fans. We're practically a family; albeit one that's been through more downs than ups. It’s nice to finally see this place when the Vols are on top!
I have nothing profound to say, but a few thoughts on last night.
1993 Bama game. I had a premonition of sorts right before the game started that the game might be like the 1993 game. Bama had won 7 straight going into that game. They were favored in Birmingham. It was an epic back and forth game that ended in a 17-17 tie, but it felt like a win. The streak ended. We lost in ’94 to Bama, but we won 9 of the next 10 after that. Even though it was a tie rather than a win, that ’93 game was monumental; it felt like something had changed that day. That’s how this game felt.
Top 5 Vol win of my lifetime. Up there with Florida ’01, Florida ’98, and the ’98 national title game. Might take a few months to digest exactly where it falls in that pantheon; for instance that '05 LSU comeback win seemed huge at the time, but seems less big in hindsight after we finished 5-6 that year. But without a doubt, this game will be considered an all-time classic.
Hyatt. I was so excited when we landed Jalin Hyatt; thought he was one of the most underrated WRs in the country. It’s taken him a few years to have a breakthrough season, but he’s having it now. 5 TDs in a single game! That’s insane! I know a man who scored 4 touchdowns in a single game at Polk High back in the day. I never thought I’d live to see 5. Congratulations to Jalin Hyatt on the game of a lifetime. Al Bundy salutes you!
Bru McCoy. He did not have a huge game, but he came up with a big-time catch in the clutch that led to the winning FG. Ball was thrown a bit high and he got absolutely clobbered on that play and still held on. Absolutely clutch!
Tillman. Still crazy that we’ve now won against Florida, LSU, and Ala-friggin-Bama without our #1 receiver. Tillman is a game-changer. If we dropped a game or two during that stretch without him, it would be understandable. But we’re still undefeated. Credit to Heupel, the coaching staff, this team, and this amazing WR corps!
O-line had a great game. Bama had 1 sack and 2 TFLs. We ran 70 plays. Not too shabby. Can't think of any real game-changing defensive plays by Bama. Indeed, the only potential game-changing play was just a blunder on our part, with Hooker fumbling the ball on the handoff to Small. But the O-line played great; best game of the season. Perhaps best I've seen our O-line play in a decade.
McGrath FG. It wasn’t the prettiest kick, but it went in. I re-watched the McGrath kick a dozen times in slow-motion like it was the Zapruder film. Did the ball get tipped? I couldn’t see any evidence that it did. Actually, it looks like McGrath took off a split-second too early, which caused his timing to be off just a slight bit. But give the dude credit: he got the thing through the uprights. I can’t even imagine being in that spot. 15 years of misery and the entire weight of Vol Nation being on your shoulders, and McGrath came through.
Milton. That Hail Mary pass was a thing of beauty. We didn't come down with it, but Milton threw it perfectly. It's still a "wait and see" thing on Milton for me. His accuracy and decision-making needs to improve a lot for us to be competitive in the SEC next season, but I've been impressed with him the few moments he's played this year.
Secondary struggled all night. No surprise. Outside of the LSU game, they’ve struggled all season. And now, we’re several men down. This is still our Achilles’ Heel. That said, they came through at the end and finally got a key stop against arguably the best QB in college football. I think this unit will get better, but may take a year or two. If we had a good secondary, I think we’d have a good shot at a national title. Not saying it's impossible without it, but the offense is going to have to play to near perfection in big games. But if we keep scoring 52 points, maybe it's possible.
Bryce Young. Say what you will, but he had a Heisman-esque performance. I think we win this game by 3-4 touchdowns if Young had been out. So many of those passes were perfectly placed and he managed to escape pressure so many times, it became infuriating. He went 35 for 52 for 455 yards. He had no turnovers. He played to damn near perfection and Bama still lost. That says something about our team.
Lil’ Nicky. Maybe it’s evil, but I admit I really enjoyed seeing Nick Saban so angry and frustrated the entire game. Don’t know that I’ve ever seen him that bent out of shape before. It was weirdly satisfying.
Saban’s end game mismanagement. Not sure what Saban was thinking. He’s one of the greatest coaches of all-time and he’s typically more on the conservative side. So why did he pass it 3 times in a row end-game when he was in field goal range, had 2 timeouts, had a RB that we struggled tackling all day, and there was less than a minute on the clock? I’m not saying they shouldn’t throw it there, but not 3 times in a row. Particularly on 3rd and 10, just do a run play, pick up a few yards, run down the clock, take a timeout and kick the field goal. In any case, nice to finally be on the other end of an end-game mismanagement situation. Feels like it’s been a long time since that wasn’t us.
The refs. It's amusing reading Bama fans blaming the refs for the loss. Bama has been the recipient of more favorable calls than any team in college football this last decade. When you play Bama, you know they'll get help from the refs. And they did again last night with one of the worst pass interference calls I've ever seen. Clearly offensive PI, with the WR throwing the defender down, but they get a PI call, and score an easy touchdown. They got away with a few egregious holds in coverage as well; one in particular against Hyatt where you could see Hyatt's entire body jerk backwards, but somehow the refs didn't see the PI. The refs gifted Alabama 7 points, if not more, but we still won.
Goalposts. You knew they were coming down if we won. I don’t want us to get in a habit of rushing the field, but it had to happen last night. It was fun watching the progress of the goalposts on Twitter. They were paraded downtown and eventually throw in the river.
Parties in Nashville. I live in downtown Nashville at the moment and I could hear people celebrating a mile away.
Big Picture
Kentucky. Don’t sleep on them. It’s a critical game for us. They are a very good team completely capable of beating us. We’re the better team, but if we don’t show up, could be a rough game.
Ranking. After one of the biggest wins in UT history, unfortunately, I'm not so sure we catapult up the rankings. #4 is most likely, but we might move to #3. Georgia clobbered Vanderbilt, Ohio State has looked good all season, and Michigan obliterated Penn State. Clemson beat another good team (Florida State looks much better this season). I think we jump Clemson; we might jump Michigan; we'll see. Of the computer rankings released so far this morning, FPI has us at #6 and Massey at #5. But who gives AF? If anything, I hope we stay down at #5 so we can continue playing the 'no respect' card.
We are now 6-0 … Since I started dating my current girlfriend. I told her before the season, I was really into the Tennessee Vols and be prepared for a few miserable games in the fall. Even though she’s not typically a ‘football person’, she has watched all the games with me. We’re now 6-0. In comparison, we were 73-75 when I was with my ex- who hated football, so …
Heupel is already a Vol legend. I don’t know what the future holds, but Heupel has already become a Vol legend with this win. I personally like him more than any other HC we’ve had since Johnny Majors; and yes I include Fulmer in that. He’s committed, he cares about the kids, he wants to win, he’s a brilliant play-caller, and he loves UT. Can't predict the future, but difficult not to love Heupel.
2000 Oklahoma. I don’t think we’re winning a national title, but … in 2000 Josh Heupel led the Oklahoma Sooners to a surprise national title. They started the season ranked #19 in Bob Stoops’ second season. They went 7-5 the year before with several close losses. In 2000, they upset #2 Kansas State and #1 Nebraska in back-to-back weeks. It was a “changing of the guard” as Oklahoma overtook Nebraska as the premier team in the Big 12 in the 00’s. I’d be ecstatic with a 10-2 season (I was expecting 8-4 or 9-3), but it would be crazy if history repeated itself with Heupel at Tennessee as a coach. We still have a long way to go.
We'll remember this game for the rest of our lives. Regardless of what happens the rest of the season. I don't remember having this feeling watching a UT game since the '01 Florida game.
GBO!
I have nothing profound to say, but a few thoughts on last night.
1993 Bama game. I had a premonition of sorts right before the game started that the game might be like the 1993 game. Bama had won 7 straight going into that game. They were favored in Birmingham. It was an epic back and forth game that ended in a 17-17 tie, but it felt like a win. The streak ended. We lost in ’94 to Bama, but we won 9 of the next 10 after that. Even though it was a tie rather than a win, that ’93 game was monumental; it felt like something had changed that day. That’s how this game felt.
Top 5 Vol win of my lifetime. Up there with Florida ’01, Florida ’98, and the ’98 national title game. Might take a few months to digest exactly where it falls in that pantheon; for instance that '05 LSU comeback win seemed huge at the time, but seems less big in hindsight after we finished 5-6 that year. But without a doubt, this game will be considered an all-time classic.
Hyatt. I was so excited when we landed Jalin Hyatt; thought he was one of the most underrated WRs in the country. It’s taken him a few years to have a breakthrough season, but he’s having it now. 5 TDs in a single game! That’s insane! I know a man who scored 4 touchdowns in a single game at Polk High back in the day. I never thought I’d live to see 5. Congratulations to Jalin Hyatt on the game of a lifetime. Al Bundy salutes you!
Bru McCoy. He did not have a huge game, but he came up with a big-time catch in the clutch that led to the winning FG. Ball was thrown a bit high and he got absolutely clobbered on that play and still held on. Absolutely clutch!
Tillman. Still crazy that we’ve now won against Florida, LSU, and Ala-friggin-Bama without our #1 receiver. Tillman is a game-changer. If we dropped a game or two during that stretch without him, it would be understandable. But we’re still undefeated. Credit to Heupel, the coaching staff, this team, and this amazing WR corps!
O-line had a great game. Bama had 1 sack and 2 TFLs. We ran 70 plays. Not too shabby. Can't think of any real game-changing defensive plays by Bama. Indeed, the only potential game-changing play was just a blunder on our part, with Hooker fumbling the ball on the handoff to Small. But the O-line played great; best game of the season. Perhaps best I've seen our O-line play in a decade.
McGrath FG. It wasn’t the prettiest kick, but it went in. I re-watched the McGrath kick a dozen times in slow-motion like it was the Zapruder film. Did the ball get tipped? I couldn’t see any evidence that it did. Actually, it looks like McGrath took off a split-second too early, which caused his timing to be off just a slight bit. But give the dude credit: he got the thing through the uprights. I can’t even imagine being in that spot. 15 years of misery and the entire weight of Vol Nation being on your shoulders, and McGrath came through.
Milton. That Hail Mary pass was a thing of beauty. We didn't come down with it, but Milton threw it perfectly. It's still a "wait and see" thing on Milton for me. His accuracy and decision-making needs to improve a lot for us to be competitive in the SEC next season, but I've been impressed with him the few moments he's played this year.
Secondary struggled all night. No surprise. Outside of the LSU game, they’ve struggled all season. And now, we’re several men down. This is still our Achilles’ Heel. That said, they came through at the end and finally got a key stop against arguably the best QB in college football. I think this unit will get better, but may take a year or two. If we had a good secondary, I think we’d have a good shot at a national title. Not saying it's impossible without it, but the offense is going to have to play to near perfection in big games. But if we keep scoring 52 points, maybe it's possible.
Bryce Young. Say what you will, but he had a Heisman-esque performance. I think we win this game by 3-4 touchdowns if Young had been out. So many of those passes were perfectly placed and he managed to escape pressure so many times, it became infuriating. He went 35 for 52 for 455 yards. He had no turnovers. He played to damn near perfection and Bama still lost. That says something about our team.
Lil’ Nicky. Maybe it’s evil, but I admit I really enjoyed seeing Nick Saban so angry and frustrated the entire game. Don’t know that I’ve ever seen him that bent out of shape before. It was weirdly satisfying.
Saban’s end game mismanagement. Not sure what Saban was thinking. He’s one of the greatest coaches of all-time and he’s typically more on the conservative side. So why did he pass it 3 times in a row end-game when he was in field goal range, had 2 timeouts, had a RB that we struggled tackling all day, and there was less than a minute on the clock? I’m not saying they shouldn’t throw it there, but not 3 times in a row. Particularly on 3rd and 10, just do a run play, pick up a few yards, run down the clock, take a timeout and kick the field goal. In any case, nice to finally be on the other end of an end-game mismanagement situation. Feels like it’s been a long time since that wasn’t us.
The refs. It's amusing reading Bama fans blaming the refs for the loss. Bama has been the recipient of more favorable calls than any team in college football this last decade. When you play Bama, you know they'll get help from the refs. And they did again last night with one of the worst pass interference calls I've ever seen. Clearly offensive PI, with the WR throwing the defender down, but they get a PI call, and score an easy touchdown. They got away with a few egregious holds in coverage as well; one in particular against Hyatt where you could see Hyatt's entire body jerk backwards, but somehow the refs didn't see the PI. The refs gifted Alabama 7 points, if not more, but we still won.
Goalposts. You knew they were coming down if we won. I don’t want us to get in a habit of rushing the field, but it had to happen last night. It was fun watching the progress of the goalposts on Twitter. They were paraded downtown and eventually throw in the river.
Parties in Nashville. I live in downtown Nashville at the moment and I could hear people celebrating a mile away.
Big Picture
Kentucky. Don’t sleep on them. It’s a critical game for us. They are a very good team completely capable of beating us. We’re the better team, but if we don’t show up, could be a rough game.
Ranking. After one of the biggest wins in UT history, unfortunately, I'm not so sure we catapult up the rankings. #4 is most likely, but we might move to #3. Georgia clobbered Vanderbilt, Ohio State has looked good all season, and Michigan obliterated Penn State. Clemson beat another good team (Florida State looks much better this season). I think we jump Clemson; we might jump Michigan; we'll see. Of the computer rankings released so far this morning, FPI has us at #6 and Massey at #5. But who gives AF? If anything, I hope we stay down at #5 so we can continue playing the 'no respect' card.
We are now 6-0 … Since I started dating my current girlfriend. I told her before the season, I was really into the Tennessee Vols and be prepared for a few miserable games in the fall. Even though she’s not typically a ‘football person’, she has watched all the games with me. We’re now 6-0. In comparison, we were 73-75 when I was with my ex- who hated football, so …
Heupel is already a Vol legend. I don’t know what the future holds, but Heupel has already become a Vol legend with this win. I personally like him more than any other HC we’ve had since Johnny Majors; and yes I include Fulmer in that. He’s committed, he cares about the kids, he wants to win, he’s a brilliant play-caller, and he loves UT. Can't predict the future, but difficult not to love Heupel.
2000 Oklahoma. I don’t think we’re winning a national title, but … in 2000 Josh Heupel led the Oklahoma Sooners to a surprise national title. They started the season ranked #19 in Bob Stoops’ second season. They went 7-5 the year before with several close losses. In 2000, they upset #2 Kansas State and #1 Nebraska in back-to-back weeks. It was a “changing of the guard” as Oklahoma overtook Nebraska as the premier team in the Big 12 in the 00’s. I’d be ecstatic with a 10-2 season (I was expecting 8-4 or 9-3), but it would be crazy if history repeated itself with Heupel at Tennessee as a coach. We still have a long way to go.
We'll remember this game for the rest of our lives. Regardless of what happens the rest of the season. I don't remember having this feeling watching a UT game since the '01 Florida game.
GBO!
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