OneManGang
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2004
- Messages
- 2,038
- Likes
- 9,674
Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Alabama
One can argue that Alabama is so good that even the Californicator can't screw them up. Be that as it may, the Crimson Tide did manage to drop its game with the Care Bears earlier this season, so maybe Ol' Kiffy can do for Bama what he did for Southern Cal and Tennessee.
But not this day.
After turning in sterling performances this season, Tennessee's defense got ripped wide open in the first quarter Saturday night. To make matters worse, when Nathan Peterman went in to try on Justin Worley's hat in the first two possessions he found it fit a bit tight around the shoulders. The Bammers roared out to a 20-0 lead as the deadly combo of Blake Sims and Amari Cooper shredded the Vol secondary for nearly 200 receiving yards in the first canto alone.
Shell-shocked Vol fans wondered if the JumboTron could keep up with Alabama's offense which seemed to be moving at about ten miles an hour even counting time-outs, commercial breaks and those brief periods where Tennessee had the ball. It was about as grim a situation as Vol fans had faced since the nadir of the Spawn's time two seasons ago.
Head Vol Butch Jones then looked to his number three quarterback.
Joshua Dobbs came off the bench and the corpse in Orange twitched. The offense seemed not quite so moribund even if the stats for Dobbs' first two series and Peterman's were nearly identical. Bama scored another touchdown. Staring at a 27-point hole, the Steely-eyed Missile Man took the team on his shoulders and achieved a measure of redemption.
----
The rebel army had suffered defeat after defeat. After the heady days of Bunker Hill and the subsequent forcing of the Redcoats to quit Boston, things had gone badly. Throughout 1776, they Continentals had been forced back. There was grumbling that General Washington didn't know what he was doing, the Continental Congress couldn't agree on what level of support to give, and many of the militia troops who had manned the battlements overlooking Boston Harbor had gone home when their enlistments were up. Indeed some of them left right in the middle of the fighting around New York City. After that disaster, the Continentals had been chased completely out of New York and then from New Jersey. The sole bright spot thus far had been the issuing of the Declaration of Independence in July. But now winter was closing in and any hope of eventual victory seemed as uncertain as the path of a snowflake.
Washington knew he needed something - anything - to restore his army's morale. They were camped in Pennsylvania and the muttering was no longer muted. The cause of American independence and the notion that "all men are created equal" was balanced on a razor's edge and tilting.
Christmas week brought news of a garrison of Hessians (professional German soldiers on loan to the English) quartered in Trenton, New Jersey, just across the Delaware River from Washington's camp. Plans were made and on Christmas night, the Continentals got into a bunch of leaky boats and crossed the river. It was in many ways the real point of no return. If they failed, the hangman's noose likely awaited most of them unless they fled deep into the wilderness and hid for the rest of their lives. The British took a dim view of treasonous rebellion.
Dawn of 26 December found the Hessians still abed as there had been a rather raucous party the night before. Washington quietly positioned his troops.
Colonel Henry Knox (yes, Virginia, UT's town and county are named for him) sighted a cannon and gave the signal. A thud and roar sent a six-pound wake-up call to the hung-over Germans. The Germans poured from their warm barracks into the midst of a firefight and, confused and disorganized, were quickly overwhelmed. Col. John Rall, the Hessian commander, tried to rally his men but was shot from his horse and killed. Surrender followed. Twenty-two Hessians were killed, 92 wounded and over 900 captured, 400 escaped in the confusion. More importantly, vast quantities of arms and ammunition fell into American hands. Two Washington's men froze to death and five were wounded.
Redemption.
There would be other battles for Washington and his army. Some would be stirring victories, some would be embarrassing defeats. None of them, not even the eventual surrender of Lord Cornwallis' British regulars at Yorktown in 1781, would be as decisive as that cold winter's morn in Trenton.
By the time Josh Dobbs got in the game the issue was decided. However by leading Tennessee to outscore the Elephants 20-14 over the next three quarters, the heretofore much-maligned Tennessee offense was good enough to give the fans something to hang onto for the remainder of the SEC campaign.
Better days are ahead.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
You simply cannot spot any SEC team, let alone the Mighty Integral, a 27-point lead.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
For the seemingly the first time in living memory, Tennessee took advantage of a Tide miscue and got points. No, they didn't get the touchdown, but anything is an improvement.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
Joshua Dobbs. Even should he do nothing else in his career on The Hill, Saturday's performance has earned him a place in Vol Lore.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Your humble scribe has, in his repeated bemoaning of the offensive line's performance this season, made the classic error of forgetting that pass protection is a two-way street. Bluntly, Justin Worley hasn't done much to help out the big boys out front. The Big Eaters still aren't what they could be, but in a throwback to last week, they certainly had to gain a big shot of confidence Saturday night. Playing offensive line is all about attitude and confidence.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
It's amazing what offensive success can do for a team's attitude.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Great Day, that was some of the best kick-coverage this Old Vol has seen in many a game.
7. Carry the fight to Alabama and keep it there for sixty minutes.
More like 45, but you get the picture.
I despise losing to Alabama more than I do dog mess on my dress shoes. But, strangely, I feel a whole order of magnitude better as I write this than I did after last week's visit to Oxford.
I hate the entire concept of the "moral victory."
On the other hand, as I stated after the Arkansas State game: "Enjoy the wins, look for positives in losses and settle in for the ride."
There were many positives after the first quarter Saturday night.
Dare we Vol fans hope that, "the Force is strong in this one?"
Brick by Brick, Baby!
MAXOMG
Suggested Reading:
John Ferling, Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War for Independence
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing
David McCullough, 1776
Robert E. Wright, Jr., The Continental Army (US Army Center for Military History)
© 2014
Keeping Your Stories Alive
Last edited:
