OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Florida
“The fight may not always go to the strongest, nor the race to the swiftest … but that's the way to bet.” - Anon.
It sets my back teeth on edge to say this but Tennessee football slipped so far during the last years of Philip Fulmer, the one-night stand of the California crowd and the assorted fallout from both those episodes that the Vols have forgotten how to win big games. That winning attitude is as much of a football skill as blocking, tackling, or being able to cover a receiver without grabbing various items of clothing. Tennessee is still very much a “tatterdemalion corps” of football survivors and determined youngsters but still only one deep at most positions. That is enough to be competitive in individual games but not nearly enough for the long war of attrition that is an SEC schedule.
The Union Army of the Potomac faced a similar situation through most of the Civil War. Time and again the blue-clad hosts would set forth from their camps near Washington, D.C. With full fanfare and high expectations, well equipped and fed, there seemed no way they could fail. However, fail they did again and again until Union President Abraham Lincoln despaired of ever seeing Billy Yank emerge with the spoils of victory. From 1861 until July 1863, they nearly always returned bedraggled and beaten by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, who were generally dressed in rags, barefoot and lacking in key supplies but were led by an exceptional battle commander named Robert E. Lee.
Finally, over the course of three horrific days in July 1863, the Army of the Potomac gained its signal victory near a sleepy Pennsylvania farming town named Gettysburg. There were ups and downs after that, but on May 23, 1865, it was the Army of the Potomac that held a victory parade through the streets of Washington.
The Vols went down to Gainesville to confront the University of Florida, the Mighty Integral of the SEC East. The Gators are not nearly as fearsome as in years past but against a team learning how to win big games, they are still deadly. For the moment, the Road to Atlanta, for SEC East teams, still goes through Gainesville.
The Volunteers have not won a “big” game in nearly four years. Their “Gettysburg” moment lies still, unfortunately for long-suffering Tennessee fans, somewhere in the future. On the bright side, Saturday's game indicated that maybe, just maybe, the moment is getting closer.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Why, in the name of All That is Holy did James Stone pick this fall to change hands on the center snap? That being said, Florida made more than enough errors to lose this game. If Tennessee had a running attack AT ALL, they might well have been able to pull this out. Not recruiting quality offensive linemen, a problem that surfaced in the mid-2000s, has proved an error of epic proportions. It's hard to build a quality offensive line in one or two seasons. Such construction requires a solid commitment by coaches and recruiters to bring in the best possible players for the line. I saw Charles McRae at a high school game a couple of weeks back and thought back to the days of the “Tennessee Valley Authority” which struck fear into defensive coordinators across the Fruited Plain. I sighed.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
It took UT most of the first half to score. It was gratifying to see the Vols score after a Florida fumble in the third. Florida's Chris Rainey simply made his own breaks. I can't wait to see him play on Sunday, in fact I wish I could tomorrow.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The CBS announcers noted that Tennessee had essentially quit against Oregon last year. No such issues this year. Better days are ahead.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Tennessee went into this game with a “Boy, wouldn't it be great to win this game?” attitude. The Gators came in thinking, “We own these people.”
They do.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
There is little to fault in the defensive effort. Most of the Gators' scoring took advantage of Tennessee's young guys on the outside, just as Tennessee took advantage of Florida's inexperienced defensive backs.
As for the offense: BLOCK, DAMMIT! CUT AND FREAKING SLICE!!! Until this changes Tennessee does not – AND WILL NOT - have the “winning edge.”
There, I said it.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Florida won the kicking game today, hands down. Let's face it, Vol fans, Tennessee has not “pressed the kicking game” in well over a decade. Tennessee does have a titular “special teams coach” which is all well and good but what they have needed is a KICKING coach. There is no place in college football for a three-step punting motion. Michael Palardy compounded the sin of getting a critical punt fed back to him by whiffing on an eminently make-able field goal attempt in the first canto.
7. Carry the fight to Florida and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Tennessee kept fighting to the bitter end. They just fell afoul of the pithy aphorism which led off today's report.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]In other news it took Vern Lundquist six whole minutes to bring up the name of Tim Tebow, which was five minutes and forty seconds longer than he lasted in 2010.[/FONT]
Recovery is, as they say, a process.
So there it is. Tennessee once again confronted the Gators and, as has been the case since 2004, the Vols came up empty. It hurts, it is humiliating and, worse, it was deserved.
Teams have to learn how to win Big Games and there is a price to be paid for that learning. The Vols paid part of that price Saturday.
MAXOMG
“The fight may not always go to the strongest, nor the race to the swiftest … but that's the way to bet.” - Anon.
It sets my back teeth on edge to say this but Tennessee football slipped so far during the last years of Philip Fulmer, the one-night stand of the California crowd and the assorted fallout from both those episodes that the Vols have forgotten how to win big games. That winning attitude is as much of a football skill as blocking, tackling, or being able to cover a receiver without grabbing various items of clothing. Tennessee is still very much a “tatterdemalion corps” of football survivors and determined youngsters but still only one deep at most positions. That is enough to be competitive in individual games but not nearly enough for the long war of attrition that is an SEC schedule.
The Union Army of the Potomac faced a similar situation through most of the Civil War. Time and again the blue-clad hosts would set forth from their camps near Washington, D.C. With full fanfare and high expectations, well equipped and fed, there seemed no way they could fail. However, fail they did again and again until Union President Abraham Lincoln despaired of ever seeing Billy Yank emerge with the spoils of victory. From 1861 until July 1863, they nearly always returned bedraggled and beaten by the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, who were generally dressed in rags, barefoot and lacking in key supplies but were led by an exceptional battle commander named Robert E. Lee.
Finally, over the course of three horrific days in July 1863, the Army of the Potomac gained its signal victory near a sleepy Pennsylvania farming town named Gettysburg. There were ups and downs after that, but on May 23, 1865, it was the Army of the Potomac that held a victory parade through the streets of Washington.
The Vols went down to Gainesville to confront the University of Florida, the Mighty Integral of the SEC East. The Gators are not nearly as fearsome as in years past but against a team learning how to win big games, they are still deadly. For the moment, the Road to Atlanta, for SEC East teams, still goes through Gainesville.
The Volunteers have not won a “big” game in nearly four years. Their “Gettysburg” moment lies still, unfortunately for long-suffering Tennessee fans, somewhere in the future. On the bright side, Saturday's game indicated that maybe, just maybe, the moment is getting closer.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Why, in the name of All That is Holy did James Stone pick this fall to change hands on the center snap? That being said, Florida made more than enough errors to lose this game. If Tennessee had a running attack AT ALL, they might well have been able to pull this out. Not recruiting quality offensive linemen, a problem that surfaced in the mid-2000s, has proved an error of epic proportions. It's hard to build a quality offensive line in one or two seasons. Such construction requires a solid commitment by coaches and recruiters to bring in the best possible players for the line. I saw Charles McRae at a high school game a couple of weeks back and thought back to the days of the “Tennessee Valley Authority” which struck fear into defensive coordinators across the Fruited Plain. I sighed.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way … SCORE!
It took UT most of the first half to score. It was gratifying to see the Vols score after a Florida fumble in the third. Florida's Chris Rainey simply made his own breaks. I can't wait to see him play on Sunday, in fact I wish I could tomorrow.
3. If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up … PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The CBS announcers noted that Tennessee had essentially quit against Oregon last year. No such issues this year. Better days are ahead.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Tennessee went into this game with a “Boy, wouldn't it be great to win this game?” attitude. The Gators came in thinking, “We own these people.”
They do.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle … THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
There is little to fault in the defensive effort. Most of the Gators' scoring took advantage of Tennessee's young guys on the outside, just as Tennessee took advantage of Florida's inexperienced defensive backs.
As for the offense: BLOCK, DAMMIT! CUT AND FREAKING SLICE!!! Until this changes Tennessee does not – AND WILL NOT - have the “winning edge.”
There, I said it.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Florida won the kicking game today, hands down. Let's face it, Vol fans, Tennessee has not “pressed the kicking game” in well over a decade. Tennessee does have a titular “special teams coach” which is all well and good but what they have needed is a KICKING coach. There is no place in college football for a three-step punting motion. Michael Palardy compounded the sin of getting a critical punt fed back to him by whiffing on an eminently make-able field goal attempt in the first canto.
7. Carry the fight to Florida and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Tennessee kept fighting to the bitter end. They just fell afoul of the pithy aphorism which led off today's report.
[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]In other news it took Vern Lundquist six whole minutes to bring up the name of Tim Tebow, which was five minutes and forty seconds longer than he lasted in 2010.[/FONT]
Recovery is, as they say, a process.
So there it is. Tennessee once again confronted the Gators and, as has been the case since 2004, the Vols came up empty. It hurts, it is humiliating and, worse, it was deserved.
Teams have to learn how to win Big Games and there is a price to be paid for that learning. The Vols paid part of that price Saturday.
MAXOMG
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