OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Kentucky
A/N 1: A belated happy Veterans Day to all who have honorably served our nation. If you are reading this in English, thank a teacher. If you are reading it as free citizen of the United States of America, thank a vet.
A/N 2: I apologize to all my faithful readers for my tardiness. I was a featured speaker at the Veterans Day weekend commemoration at Alvin C. York State Historic Park on Saturday and then had to work on Sunday.
First off, a win against an SEC opponent any SEC opponent is a GOOD thing. Never, ever, forget that.
Second, the UT/UK series has always been quirky. Saturday's tilt proved no different. In 1997 the Vols traveled to Lexington and were expected to throttle the MildKats and move on to Vanderbilt and thence to the SEC Championship game.
For whatever reason, John The Chief Chavis's boys decided to mail it in that day against Timmy Couch and Hal Mumme's Air Raid offense. Fortunately, Tennessee had an answer in a certain Sir Peyton of New Orleans and a collection of future NFL wide receivers and running backs who looked over at the celebrating MildKats and seemed to say, OK, you want a track meet, we can give you one.
Five hundred plus yards of passing with over 600 yards total offense later, the Vols walked away with a a 59-31 victory.
Look familiar?
******
In May of 1937, the Imperial Japanese Navy sent out specifications for a new carrier fighter. The two primary suppliers of Japanese aircraft, Nakajima and Mitsubishi looked over the specs and stated to work. In October, the specs were revised and Nakajima announced they could not be met. Mitsubishi turned to their chief engineer, Jiro Horikoshi who decided it could be done.
Hiroshoki and his team set to work and on 1 April 1939 a sleek low-wing fighter bearing the Rising Sun roundels of the Empire of Japan took to the skies. It was given the designation A6M Type 0. The new fighter would enter squadron service in 1940. The 0 was taken from the Imperial year 2600 which was also the year 1940. And thus the Zero was born.
In one swoop every other fighter in service in the Pacific was rendered obsolete. The Zero was fast: about 350mph, it was heavily armed with 2 7.7mm machine guns and a pair of 20mm cannons, it was very light weight and thus highly maneuverable, it had a high rate of climb and very long range.
Over China in 1940 and 1941 and then over the broad Pacific after Pearl harbor, the Zero reigned supreme. However, the Americans were learning how to beat it. There was no way the primary US Navy fighter, the Grumman F4F Wildcat could compete with it in performance BUT the stubby Grumman was tough and heavily armed. Japanese ace Saburo Sakai tells the tale of once firing over 600 rounds into a Wildcat without bringing it down. He broke off the action when he ran out of ammo, saluting the American pilot before turning away. The Army P-40 suffered from the same issues. Over time, though, tactics were evolved that help balance the calculations.
All that sparkling performance of the Zero came at a price. Horikoshi had opted to use the lightest materials possible for his fighter and other options, such as rubber-lined self sealing gas tanks were rejected to save weight. American fighters were armed now with .50 caliber machine guns and every fifth round was a tracer round with a bit of white phosphorus in the base of the bullet. When the white phosphorus hit the gas tanks on the Zero, the Japanese plane was finished. Getting those hits, though, was the trick.
The US Navy was not idle. Already in 1940, the Vought F4U Corsair was undergoing tests and was the first single-engine fighter to exceed 400mph in level flight.
Over at Grumman, LeRoy Grumman and his chief engineer William Schwendler rolled up their sleeves and began to work on a successor to the Wildcat. They interviewed British veterans of the Battle of Britain and others and in June 1942 the F6F Hellcat was rolled out and took to the skies.
Unlike Horishoki, Grumman's new fighter was, well, huge. It boasted a 2000hp engine, armor over vulnerable spots, self-sealing tanks, and six .50s. It also had a large wing which meant it was quite maneuverable for its size with plenty of room for fuel tanks and quite easy to deck-land. In short, the Hellcat had all the assets save one of the Zero and none of its weaknesses.
There were rumors that the F6F had been designed using a captured Zero found in the Aleutians as a model. However, that Zero wasn't captured until AFTER the Hellcat was already flying.
By the end of the war, Hellcat pilots had shot down well over 5,000 Japanese planes, most of them Zeros.
******
The Mildkats ran wild Saturday. Fortunately for the Vols, Josh Dobbs and the boys were up to the challenge. The venue for the track meet this year was Neyland Stadium but the outcome was virtually the same.
HeadKat Mike Stoops still is fulfilling the Prime Directive for any MildKat football coach: We don't care how many games you win, don't do anything to get the basketball program in trouble.
So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Apparently, Bob Shoop didn't bother to tell his boys that, indeed, the MildKats play in the SEC and thus are a FAR more capable team than TTU. That much being said, the defense did stiffen inside the twenty. The problem was allowing the Kats inside the twenty to start with.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
That flea-flicker was a thing of beauty.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
I don't think anyone foresaw that the MildKats would score on their second play from scrimmage or that on the first play their quarterback would scamper for seventy-five yards. Tennessee refused to wilt, though, and carried the day.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
Having both Kamara and Kelly with Josh Dobbs has to be giving SEC defensive coordinators peptic ulcers.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Allowing 400-plus yards rushing violates this Maxim in its most fundamental meaning. I heard rumors of a rumbling coming from the area of the National Cemetery in Knoxville Saturday afternoon. (The Gen'rul sleeps there.)
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
One bright spot for the Vols this year remains this aspect. Coverage and return games are both clicking. Well done!
7. Carry the fight to Kentucky and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Tennessee visibly let up late and let the MildKats score a garbage TD. Not acceptable.
In the end, Tennessee did what it had to in order to win the game. One of my smart mouth answers to the eternal question, Who do ya think's gonna win Saturday? is to snort, The team that scores the most points.
That's all that counts.
Win.
Survive.
Move on.
Brick by Brick, Baby!
MAXOMG
Suggested Reading:
Capt. Eric Brown, RN, Wings of the Navy: Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War II
Rene' J. Francillon, Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific War
Barrett Tillman, Hellcat
© 2016
Keeping Your Stories Alive
Shameless self-promotion: I will be receiving the proof copy of my first book, It Was a Two Egg Mission this week. The book will be available in December.
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