Well, that was a short & sad appearance by the Vols in the 2024 College Football Playoff. We all knew it would be tough, a formidable opponent on their home field in frigid winter temperatures.
There would be no hopes of getting the close calls with the same ref crew from the 2021 Purdue game debacle.
But that didn’t stop the enthusiastic Vol fans from turning out in mass, completely dominating the morning ESPN GameDay audience. The game even started out on an encouraging note with a quick three-and-out by the Vol defense, or did it?
As Lee Corso says, “not so fast my friend.” A face mask penalty when a Vol defender had OSU QB Will Howard dead to rights results in a 15 yard penalty and a fresh set of downs for the Buckeyes. They didn’t need all of the downs, as they converted a long ball TD on an opening drive of five plays. By the way, that Vol defender didn’t record a single stat according to the official box score the rest of the way. But he certainly had a significant early impact on the game.
I was in the stadium the last time Tennessee got smashed this badly in a post-season game. The 1998 Orange Bowl was the last game for Peyton Manning and the SEC Champion Vols. They were in the mix for the national title along with Nebraska, their Orange Bowl opponent. And like this year’s CFP game, the offensive star of the Vols was dinged up and not 100%.
Although Manning did play significantly more than Dylan Sampson did in the CFP game, he was nowhere near 100% and eventually had to take a seat and hand the ball over to Tee Martin. Nebraska routed the Vols by the same 42-17 score, completely beaten physically on both sides of the ball. Just like this year, nobody in orange expected that kind of beatdown. Nebraska was crowned the 1997 national champion. There was a feeling in Big Orange Country that Tennessee had missed their window at a national title. 1998 looked like a serious rebuilding year. And the rest as they say is history.
So the Vols first appearance in the College Football Playoff was short and brutal, but the team still did what it needed to do to make it to the playoff for the first time in program history. It was a good season for Tennessee minus the costly upset against a not so good Arkansas team that kept Tennessee from going to Atlanta for the first time since 2007 and playing for an SEC title.
I look at Tennessee’s complete body of work for 2024 season, and it was a successful season that Tennessee Football was completely missing during the Kiffin/Dooley/Jones/Pruitt drama train. And for the 2025 rebuilding challenge, that’s much easier to accomplish today with the portal than it was in 1998. So watch Heupel & staff’s efforts in the portal during the off-season. Tennessee will either strongly rely on young, mostly inexperienced talent in 2025, or they will plug several of the areas of need with impactful transfer players. This offseason is huge for Heupel and staff.
Now that we can focus all of our attention on Tennessee Basketball, 2025 is looking great with two undefeated Tennessee teams heading into the new year. The real season begins in January when the SEC schedule begins. The conference looks unbelievably stout in both mens and women’s leagues.
Tennessee is the only school in the country to still have both teams undefeated. And of course, the defending national baseball champion Vols will begin their title defense in February. Tennessee enrolled the top ranked recruiting class and is expected to be a major contender again in 2025.
So all in all, there’s a lot to be thankful for this Christmas season in Big Orange Country. Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of good health and blessings!
