Alabama wasn’t the first close game that Tennessee has won against a quality opponent. However, given the gravity of the situation on Saturday, the game very well could have a galvanizing effect for the remainder of the Vols’ season.
Why? Well, had Tennessee lost the Alabama game, which certainly seemed possible for over half of the contest against the Crimson Tide, many would have deemed the season over. Fans wouldn’t have been as supportive with a the College Football Playoff being a long shot and, whether they’d ever admit it or not, there probably would have been some players that would have thought most of the Vols’ preseason goals were out of reach.
Sure, there’s a scenario in which the Vols could have lost to Alabama, beat Georgia and made the College Football Playoffs, but that would have been very unlikely for two reasons. First, the Vols’ confidence could have been shattered to the point in which beating the Bulldogs was a pipe dream. Second, we would have to question if Tennessee was even College Football Playoff caliber if they would have had two losses midway through the season. It would have been natural to assume another loss against a team other than Georgia was on the way.
“I guess it just means that that we’re competitors that don’t really quit until the clock is at zero,” Tennessee center Cooper Mays said during The Vol Report. “I think we’re playing whole games. We’re playing complete games as far as fighting till the end.”
Very true. The Vols never stopped fighting against Alabama, which is more significant than the mistakes they made earlier in the 24-17 win over Bama. They also never stopped fighting in close wins against Oklahoma and Florida and a loss to Arkansas.
“Still a lot of things we’ve got to clean up, but I think the defense has done a great job of being super dominant kind of all year,” Mays said. “And it’s given us a chance to kind of find our groove a little bit later in the games and kind of get a groove together at the end of it.”
The Vols didn’t sulk over not scoring a point in the first half against Florida, which was the third consecutive game in which that happened. No, they just kept plugging along, expecting to get better and expecting quarterback Nico Iamaleava to start making plays.
“I think it was a big time game for for his confidence,” Mays said. “I’m sure he’s feeling pretty good after it. We still got a lot of things that we can clean up and a lot of things that we can get better at. You can look at that one or two ways, but I think it was a good game for us and we’ve got plenty of stuff to work on for sure.
“I’m sure it definitely boosted his confidence,” Mays said. “He had a lot of good plays, a lot of defining moments, I guess you could say, um, like big moments. So, I’m sure it did really good things for him.”
It won’t take much improvement for the Vols to make the College Football Playoff. In fact, Tennessee is probably good enough now to win the rest of their games, except for Georgia, which the Vols play on Nov. 16. Tennessee will be favored to win the rest of their games. Why? Because then Vols have kept improving all season long.
If the Vols can continue to do that, they can not only make the College Football Playoffs, but make a real run in the inaugural 12-team event.
