Voltopia
Score fast, score hard, no mercy.
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2009
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Seriously. I know A&M's a tough out, and Alabama's right behind them, but take a second to appreciate the road traveled.
Tennessee is 5-0, with wins against App State, Ohio, Virginia Tech, Florida, and Georgia. They played in the biggest college football game ever held, with 150,000+ in attendance, and won in a blowout on ESPN during primetime. The Vols have been a part of the destination game for College Gameday three times already this season (Bristol, Knoxville, and next College Station). They have also been the premiere 3:30 CBS College Football game three times as well (Florida, Georgia, and against at Texas A&M). 3:30 on CBS is where you go when you're marquee. And we're on it week after week. Sure, some of it is because of scheduling, but Tennessee has handled the schedule so far and people are noticing so much they're starting to complain about it. "Oh come on, Tennessee again this week? Really?" But there we are, center stage.
In the three years prior to the era of Butch, Tennessee never had a winning record. They never beat a ranked opponent. They never won a bowl game. Fourteen of their games weren't even shown on television, just on PPV or SEC network broadcasts. If you add in the Kiffin year, they beat one ranked opponent and went 7-6 in 2009, but only had seven games televised and still got walloped by Tech in that awful, awful Chik-Fil-A Bowl game.
My point? ENJOY THIS TIME. Tennessee is FIRMLY in the national spotlight. They've had a long road from 2012 and 2015 looked like a missed opportunity, but the Vols haven't let up. It's been a climb from 5-7, to 7-6, to 9-4, and now 5-0, but here we are. Every week, Tennessee's making headlines and highlight reel plays and putting names like Dobbs and Jennings and Barnett on the map.
This is a great time. There's a chance it may even be *our* time. It might not end up that way, but for now? Everything is possible. So enjoy the ride. Appreciate the smaller things that were easy to take for granted when Peyton Manning was under center, and hard to forget when "fear the pants" (seriously) was our rallying cry. Maybe dwell a little less about whether or not we'll win every game or win the SEC championship or get to a playoff or whatever, and dwell a little more on how great it's been to see this program pick itself up off the mat and get back in the game. And maybe -- just maybe - start believing in what's happening in Knoxville.
Tennessee is 5-0, with wins against App State, Ohio, Virginia Tech, Florida, and Georgia. They played in the biggest college football game ever held, with 150,000+ in attendance, and won in a blowout on ESPN during primetime. The Vols have been a part of the destination game for College Gameday three times already this season (Bristol, Knoxville, and next College Station). They have also been the premiere 3:30 CBS College Football game three times as well (Florida, Georgia, and against at Texas A&M). 3:30 on CBS is where you go when you're marquee. And we're on it week after week. Sure, some of it is because of scheduling, but Tennessee has handled the schedule so far and people are noticing so much they're starting to complain about it. "Oh come on, Tennessee again this week? Really?" But there we are, center stage.
In the three years prior to the era of Butch, Tennessee never had a winning record. They never beat a ranked opponent. They never won a bowl game. Fourteen of their games weren't even shown on television, just on PPV or SEC network broadcasts. If you add in the Kiffin year, they beat one ranked opponent and went 7-6 in 2009, but only had seven games televised and still got walloped by Tech in that awful, awful Chik-Fil-A Bowl game.
My point? ENJOY THIS TIME. Tennessee is FIRMLY in the national spotlight. They've had a long road from 2012 and 2015 looked like a missed opportunity, but the Vols haven't let up. It's been a climb from 5-7, to 7-6, to 9-4, and now 5-0, but here we are. Every week, Tennessee's making headlines and highlight reel plays and putting names like Dobbs and Jennings and Barnett on the map.
This is a great time. There's a chance it may even be *our* time. It might not end up that way, but for now? Everything is possible. So enjoy the ride. Appreciate the smaller things that were easy to take for granted when Peyton Manning was under center, and hard to forget when "fear the pants" (seriously) was our rallying cry. Maybe dwell a little less about whether or not we'll win every game or win the SEC championship or get to a playoff or whatever, and dwell a little more on how great it's been to see this program pick itself up off the mat and get back in the game. And maybe -- just maybe - start believing in what's happening in Knoxville.
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