RhodesVol
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Griffith has been the Butch Jones designated water carrier this year, for some reason, and part of that position entails firing up the trite clichés and excuses. Frankly, I can't blame Finebaum for being petulant, whether that was prearranged with Griffith or not.
So, we played 3 games in 13 days. One of those games was ISU, and should have been a cakewalk where we subbed our starters in the first half. We played GT, and had to defend their option attack. I get that it's not ideal, but we outmatched them in the talent department - if recruiting rankings are to be believed - by an enormous margin. Unfortunately, that game ran super long, and our defense looked completely exposed and poorly prepared. The fact of the matter is those are past events that the team can no longer control, and we still have to play FL in two days. And honestly, I am as perplexed as Finebaum with the arbitrary 17-4 in the last 21 games statistic. It's meaningless. This season is all that matters, and beyond that the statistic fails to mention that in the last 21 games we have lost games that we had absolutely no business losing. Also, when examining that statistic, we should be even more angry as a fan base that our team has not achieved anything meaningful. Of the teams that have performed at or better than UT in the last 21 games, there are legitimate milestones that have been reached, playoff appearances, conference titles, conference divisional titles.
Man, I hate being negative, and I will end by saying that the only thing we should be focused on is that despite the supposed adversity of playing a gimmicky option team, and a second game on a short schedule, we are still 2-0. We also have the opportunity to advance to 3-0 this weekend, playing a Florida team that has some serious flaws. Whether or not we capitalize on that is yet to be seen.
So, we played 3 games in 13 days. One of those games was ISU, and should have been a cakewalk where we subbed our starters in the first half. We played GT, and had to defend their option attack. I get that it's not ideal, but we outmatched them in the talent department - if recruiting rankings are to be believed - by an enormous margin. Unfortunately, that game ran super long, and our defense looked completely exposed and poorly prepared. The fact of the matter is those are past events that the team can no longer control, and we still have to play FL in two days. And honestly, I am as perplexed as Finebaum with the arbitrary 17-4 in the last 21 games statistic. It's meaningless. This season is all that matters, and beyond that the statistic fails to mention that in the last 21 games we have lost games that we had absolutely no business losing. Also, when examining that statistic, we should be even more angry as a fan base that our team has not achieved anything meaningful. Of the teams that have performed at or better than UT in the last 21 games, there are legitimate milestones that have been reached, playoff appearances, conference titles, conference divisional titles.
Man, I hate being negative, and I will end by saying that the only thing we should be focused on is that despite the supposed adversity of playing a gimmicky option team, and a second game on a short schedule, we are still 2-0. We also have the opportunity to advance to 3-0 this weekend, playing a Florida team that has some serious flaws. Whether or not we capitalize on that is yet to be seen.
