OneManGang
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Tennessee vs The Maxims vs Texas A&M
We all knew it. Some of us did not want to admit it, but we knew it.
We knew that Tennessee's hat of second-half magical tricks was deep but it not bottomless. We knew that at some point this season, the magician would reach into the hat and find a carrot instead of the rabbit.
After last week's thrilling end, it was perhaps fitting that the end Saturday again came down to a pass by Joshua Dobbs that landed in the grasp of Armani Watts of Texas A&M.
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Those of us living in Knoxville, TN on January 21, 1985 remember it as the coldest day in the history of the city. The mercury plummeted to a -24[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]°[/FONT] Fahrenheit low that night. This writer, a native southerner, recalls going outside that night just to experience what that level of cold was really like.
It felt cold as space.
In November, 1950, the 1st Marine Division was strung out along the road to a man-made reservoir in the mountains of North Korea near the Chinese border. According to their maps, the reservoir was named the Chosin.
The 1st Marine Division was on the west shore of the reservoir and the rest of X Corps on the east both moving toward the Sino-Korea border marked by the Yalu River. The Chinese communist leadership issued public warnings that they would resist any movements further toward the border. General Douglas MacArthur, in his comfortable headquarters in far-away Tokyo, belittled these warnings and made noises about carrying on the attack into China proper and putting an end to the communist threat in Asia. His staff ignored intelligence reports that hundreds of thousands of Chinese regulars had crossed the Yalu and were ready to attack the strung-out American columns.
The tip of the spear was the 7th Marine Regiment under the hard-charging Colonel Homer "Blitzen Litzen" Litzenberger. The 7th Marines and elements of the 5th Marines were on the west side of the Chosin Reservoir around the flyblown village of Yudam-ni. Their main supply dump and a forward air strip were at Hagaru-ri about ten miles to the south.
It was here that those tens of thousands of Chinese troops MacArthur insisted were figments of over-active imaginations made their appearance. Over 100,000 of those troops were detailed to send the 18,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Division to hell.
A single road snaked from Hagaru-ri and Yudam-ni through the mountains. About halfway between lies the Toktong Pass. On November 27, 1950, Litzenberger detailed Fox Company of his 2nd Battalion to hold the pass.
Fox Company had a relatively new Commanding officer, Captain William Barber. Barber deployed his three rifle companies in a rough circle around the top of a hill to the east of the pass from which he could cover the road and keep the Chinese from cutting it.
Thus began a six day battle in temperatures so cold that the daily highs rarely moved above the -24 degrees discussed earlier. Fox Company's 246 Marines stood off attacks by six one-thousand man Chinese battalions - virtually the entire 59th Division of the Chinese Army - with no food, no replacements and using a hodgepodge of American and captured Chinese weapons.
Barber himself was wounded in both legs and crawled from hole to hole checking on his men. After a while he couldn't even do that and was put on a stretcher. Despite that he had himself dragged on that litter and continued to lead his company.
By day six, the Fox Company corpsmen treating the wounded were reduced to using scotch tape to cover bullet holes in their patients. It was on this day that the Marines of the First Battalion, 7th Marines fought their way through and relived the gaunt, frozen survivors of Fox Company.
As the sixty-odd men of Fox Company still able to walk stumbled into the lines at Hagaru-ri, some of them singing or humming the Marine Corps Hymn on December 4, 1950, a Navy corpsman watching the scene remarked, "Will you look at those magnificent bastards!"
Indeed.
For his determined leadership against overwhelming odds, Capt. Barber earned the Medal of Honor.
None of that changed the fact that nothing could really be done to stop the Chinese advance. The Marines and the rest of the American forces would have to retreat. The retreat would end just south of Seoul and by that time, MacArthur would be relieved and replaced by the no-nonsense General Matthew Ridgeway.
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So how did the team do compared to the Maxims?
1. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.
Seven, SEVEN turnovers by the Vols. This leaves out the stupid penalties and other miscues that set Tennessee up for failure. The fact that Tennessee played the game to a tie speaks volumes about the inept nature and weaknesses of the Aggies. They ain't all that. The Vols outclassed and out-gunned them in virtually every department but just couldn't keep their own feet out of the line of fire.
2. Play for and make the breaks. When one comes your way SCORE!
Throwing pass interceptions when in scoring position is NOT what the Gen'rul had in mind here. That being said, the Vols fought right to the bitter end and hopefully will continue to do so. One thing in their favor is the fact that for guys their age, every hour is a Brand New Day.
3. If at first the game or the breaks go against you, dont let up PUT ON MORE STEAM!
The Vols still cannot seem to put together a complete game. Indeed this bedevilled them last year and their only complete game was the Bowl against Northwestern.
4. Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.
John Chavis has an axe to grind where Tennessee is concerned and it is no surprise he dialed up every blitz package he ever knew on Saturday. He still gives up Third-and-Chavis though.
5. Ball! Oskie! Cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle THIS IS THE WINNING EDGE.
Tennessee's defense is now a patched-up scratch unit missing several critical components. The replacements are doing well, but replacing a Cam Sutton, for instance, is a tall order.
6. Press the kicking game. Here is where the breaks are made.
Tennessee return game repeatedly made something out of nothing.
7. Carry the fight to Texas A&M and keep it there for sixty minutes.
Note to the coaches and players at the University of Tennessee, one-half of football DOES NOT equal sixty minutes. You are welcome.
Anyone who believed Tennessee would come through this season unscathed is delusional. Is Tennessee better than they were at this time last year? Undoubtedly. Are they ready for championship contention? On the whole, this writer thinks not but the jury is still out.
Will they be better next year? On the whole, yes. Re-learning how to win big games is a process. The Vols have made great strides but still just not quite there.
Brick by Brick, Baby!
MAXOMG
Suggested Reading:
Bob Drury and Tom Clavin, The Last Stand of Fox Company
T.R. Fehrenbach, This Kind of War
Eric Hammel, Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War
© 2016
Keeping Your Stories Alive
Marines of the 1st Division huddle over a fire during ther fighting near the Chosin Reservoir, Korea, 1950.
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