Well, since GameDay 6 was only the third time in twenty years that Tennessee has defeated Florida in football, why isn’t the celebration continuing into the new week?
Was it short lived because the new week happens to end with the 3rd Saturday in October football date with the ole nemesis from the south? That would be a very good reason but probably not the answer.
I’m not certain the weekend celebration wasn’t more of a big surge of relief by Vol fans. Tennessee came incredibly close to losing to another unranked team, this time on their home field. Fortunately they avoided disaster of having back to back losses to unranked teams.
The pollsters obviously weren’t impressed by Tennessee defeating their long-time foe that has a history of beating Tennessee despite not having the better team in many years. I think the AP dropping the Vols three spots was a little extreme but the voters in both polls seem to now be skeptical of how deserving Tennessee is of a Top 10 ranking after their performance against unranked teams in consecutive weeks.
My view is quit worrying about polls. Vols just need to win and the polls, and CFP, will take care of themselves. Vols have a big opportunity this week with the matchup against a darling of the poll voters, Alabama. Despite losing to Vanderbilt and coming within a SC receiver giving up on his route on a late throw to the end zone of losing to another unranked team, Bama stays in both Top 10’s. My guess is that is because of their win over UGA who is not looking unbeatable these days either. Tennessee’s best win has come against OU on the road and that win doesn’t look as strong after Texas routed them in the Red River Showdown Saturday.
Where our collective worries need to be placed is squarely on the Tennessee Football team, more specifically on the under performing offense. Two straight weeks of not scoring a single point in the first half, how in the world can that happen with a Heupel offense?
It’s now very clear to the casual observer that Tennessee is dependent on the running game and is very cautiously using the passing game. This is no longer an offense that is showing any ability to hit the explosive play that can blow games open. The Vols have regressed in the passing game to the 2023 strategy of avoiding the middle of the field. Some of that is on Nico, some is on the the pass protection. Rolling Nico out isn’t just a play option any longer, it’s a necessity partly for Nico’s preservation.
Vols clearly have some offensive line problems that are holding the offense back but not just in the passing attack. I’ve gotten to the point that anytime Sampson rips off a long run, I automatically start looking for the flag. How many long runs have been negated this season by holding penalties? I recall two in the Florida game. I believe the Tennessee coaches know where the problems are, can they do anything to fix them before they contribute to another unnecessary loss?
Speaking of Sampson, I occasionally stay at the team hotel in Knoxville which was the case Saturday for the Florida game weekend. Had an elevator ride with Dylan while on the way over to Market Square and asked him how many he was going to run for against the Gators. His answer was “however many God wants me to.” I thought what a great answer. He appears to be a class act in every way and is on his way to setting probably several program records at Tennessee. Please let this talented young man stay healthy!
To wrap up, I’ll just say I have no idea what to expect from the Vols this week against Bama. The Tide is clearly beatable this year but will the Tennessee offense help the defense out to get the win? It’s just a strange year in the SEC. I was texting during the game Saturday with a good buddy in Florida who is a Gator fan. I was commenting on how I was now convinced that the SEC only had one legitimately good team this year, that team being Texas. He pointed to parity which after thinking about it, I believe he’s correct. This is a season that appears to be indicative of a level of parity that says ranked or unranked, there’s not much difference.
Vols beware, you have a healthy mix of both ahead on the remaining schedule.
