More than an SEC Championship on the line Sat.

[JohnsonCityVol]

I'm sure I feel like a lot of UT fans and I still feel like the 2001 SEC CG was a turning point in the program, and it seems like the program hasn't quite regained that height in the SEC. (The only other sports punch in the gut I can compare it to, for me, is Jim Leyritz's home run off of Mark Wohlers in Game 3 of the 1996 World Series that sent two franchises in very different directions for the next decades. I still get sick thinking about that shot.) Of course, the talent in the SEC is much more spread out than it used to be, both on the field and in the coaching area, and none of the current Vols were on the 2001 team, so it probably isn't even a factor in their minds. But, to the fans, I think it would feel like the program has finally come full circle and is back to where we know it's capable of being. That's probably not fair, and I may be putting too much stock in one game, but I will say it will make for a much more optimistic offseason if the Vols are SEC champs than if they aren't.

How about The 1982 NFC Championship game: 49ers vs Cowboys? The Catch? Yes, the Cowboys still made it to the next 2 NFC Championships, and the 49ers got a raw deal with injuries and a strike shortened year the following year. But those 2 frachises changed for the rest of the decade with that one game.

 

[NOLAVolfan]

How about The 1982 NFC Championship game: 49ers vs Cowboys? The Catch? Yes, the Cowboys still made it to the next 2 NFC Championships, and the 49ers got a raw deal with injuries and a strike shortened year the following year. But those 2 frachises changed for the rest of the decade with that one game.

True, but I was ten at the time, and I distinctly remember rooting for the 49ers in that game, so the "gut-punch" factor was negligible. But, yes, that was one of those moments where one dynasty was extinguished and another started.

 

[The Dude]

Good thread. I agree, after this game, the program's either going up or down.

 

[JohnsonCityVol]

I was only 8 or 9, and rooting for the Cowboys in my custom Cowboy jersey and official Rawlings Cowboy helmet from the Sears catalog. I most definately felt the gut punch, at least in that game. I didn't realize how hard the punch was until we failed to make the playoffs about 3 years later.