bluegrasser
18 years on Volnation and still somehow a UT fan!
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
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Got into Knoxville around noon and visited with my folks at the ol' homestead. My younger brother had gotten into town the previous night from D.C.
I met up with him tailgating at the corner of 20th and White. I had never been to at UT tailgate party before. It was awesome. Good food, lots of beer, good comraderie. Folks were even being nice to the Cackalacky fans walking around. It was sunny and pleasant too.
As it got dark we started making our way to Neyland. It seemed like we were walking with the majority of Knoxville too in a massive throng jamming the sidewalks and spilling into the streets. Constant chants of "It's great to be a Tennessee Vol" and "V-O-L-S" kept the long walk lively.
I settled into my seat in Sec VV, Row 19 and realized how well I could see the field and the players. Though I've been to plenty of day games over the years, this was my first nighttime experience. Neyland at night rocks!
One of the coolest things was the Pride of the Southland Band during halftime - their formations were mind-boggling.
2nd half started and it was like the UT team that played Alabama suddenly switched jerseys with the UT team that had played Georgia.
One thing I could not understand was why our defense gave the USC receivers such huge cushions ALL NIGHT LONG! I don't know enough about football to know what kind of defensive strategy that is, but it sure seemed like a bad idea after about the 14th uncontested 10-yard USC pass was completed for yet another first down.
By the end of the 4th quarter I had a massive headache from screaming so loud. I really think the Neyland sound level helped out on one of those last USC third down possessions. Can't remember the play, but I just remember thinking we were finally getting to the USC offense and making them a little rattled.
This was my first live OT experience too. How Succop missed that field goal I still don't know. From my vantage point it looked like it went in, but as soon as the refs signaled no good the crowd went wild.
While I still stick to my thoughts that TN is getting constantly outcoached this year (and seemed to in this game as clearly Spurrier went into halftime and made some adjustments and we did not), I was content to have lady luck throw us a gift for the big W. I would have been extremely deflated after 4+ hours of screaming my fool head off to have lost at the very end. So for now, I will remain excited as I was Saturday night with the thrilling win. I'll wait till later in the week to dissect the game and discuss what went wrong.
For now then, as always - Go Vols!:rock:
*Took some good pictures too. Will see about posting them later from home computer.
I met up with him tailgating at the corner of 20th and White. I had never been to at UT tailgate party before. It was awesome. Good food, lots of beer, good comraderie. Folks were even being nice to the Cackalacky fans walking around. It was sunny and pleasant too.
As it got dark we started making our way to Neyland. It seemed like we were walking with the majority of Knoxville too in a massive throng jamming the sidewalks and spilling into the streets. Constant chants of "It's great to be a Tennessee Vol" and "V-O-L-S" kept the long walk lively.
I settled into my seat in Sec VV, Row 19 and realized how well I could see the field and the players. Though I've been to plenty of day games over the years, this was my first nighttime experience. Neyland at night rocks!
One of the coolest things was the Pride of the Southland Band during halftime - their formations were mind-boggling.
2nd half started and it was like the UT team that played Alabama suddenly switched jerseys with the UT team that had played Georgia.
One thing I could not understand was why our defense gave the USC receivers such huge cushions ALL NIGHT LONG! I don't know enough about football to know what kind of defensive strategy that is, but it sure seemed like a bad idea after about the 14th uncontested 10-yard USC pass was completed for yet another first down.
By the end of the 4th quarter I had a massive headache from screaming so loud. I really think the Neyland sound level helped out on one of those last USC third down possessions. Can't remember the play, but I just remember thinking we were finally getting to the USC offense and making them a little rattled.
This was my first live OT experience too. How Succop missed that field goal I still don't know. From my vantage point it looked like it went in, but as soon as the refs signaled no good the crowd went wild.
While I still stick to my thoughts that TN is getting constantly outcoached this year (and seemed to in this game as clearly Spurrier went into halftime and made some adjustments and we did not), I was content to have lady luck throw us a gift for the big W. I would have been extremely deflated after 4+ hours of screaming my fool head off to have lost at the very end. So for now, I will remain excited as I was Saturday night with the thrilling win. I'll wait till later in the week to dissect the game and discuss what went wrong.
For now then, as always - Go Vols!:rock:
*Took some good pictures too. Will see about posting them later from home computer.
