What a December week for Tennessee Vols athletics! It started off with an exciting and history making hoops weekend and will wrap up with a history making football weekend.
Let’s start on the women’s side and take a look back at the Lady Vols history making win over UNC Central Saturday afternoon. UT set a new NCAA record for 3-pointers made in a game by sinking 30 against the Eagles on their way to a 139-59 win. The win pushed the Lady Vols’ record to 8-0, another program milestone giving Kim Caldwel the best start to a season by a first year Lady Vols coach in history.
Samara Spencer set a program record by draining nine 3’s out of thirteen attempts. For the night, Spencer finished with 33 points to lead the Lady Vols. I don’t know what the season holds for this Lady Vols team; we’ll certainly know more next month when they get into SEC play. However, they have left no doubt in their first eight games that they’re going to make it exciting regardless of who the opponent is. Caldwell has certainly brought an explosive, fast-paced game to a program that needed an injection of excitement.
Speaking of excitement, how about the Vols’ tough as nails win on the road Saturday against a physical Illinois team in men’s basketball? Geez, this game had everything, including a buzzer beating game-winning shot by Vol Jordan Gainey. The Vols were confronted by a hostile sold-out home crowd pulling for their fired up 7-2 Illini team that was out to upset the top-ranked team in the country. This game was brutal under the boards with elbows and bodies flying all over the paint. UT found itself in foul trouble which constrained its personnel options, but with 5 minutes to go, the Tennessee defense put the clamps down by not allowing another field goal. Gainey, in the meantime, gave Tennessee critical buckets down the stretch, scoring 18 of his game high 23 points during the final 14 minutes. His game winning bucket was a thing of beauty, as he inbounded the ball with 5.7 seconds left on the clock, got the return pass and then dribbled the length of the court for a twisting SportsCenter highlight layup as the clock expired.
Vol transfer additions Chaz Lanier and Igor Milicic Jr made big contributions with Lanier’s 17 points and Milicic’s 14 rebounds. Tennessee moved to 10-0 on the season with the win and has a 3-game home stand to close out the December schedule before beginning SEC play in January with a visit from John Calipari and his Arkansas Razorbacks.
Now onto this weekend and Tennessee’s first ever appearance in the College Football Playoff. This has the makings of an epic first round CFP campus game being hosted by Ohio State. While at first look you would think this road game is a worst-case scenario for the Vols, it certainly doesn’t sound like it based on the comments coming out of the Tennessee practice sessions. Josh Heupel believes the predicted cold temps would be a spring day in his home state of South Dakota, and his mentality appears to have been taken on by the team. Neither team is used to playing a night game with temps dropping into the teens, so weather should wind up being a push. Tennessee will depend on their aggressive defensive front to shut down Ohio State’s offense. The Buckeyes’ offensive line has struggled at times this season; their matchup against Tennessee’s defensive line will be a key battle to watch.
When Tennessee has the ball, the offensive line absolutely has to play disciplined football and knock off the penalty problems they’ve exhibited in road games this season, particularly at the tackle position. Tennessee will once again rely on the rushing attack behind All-American and SEC Offensive Player of the Year Dylan Sampson. I don’t expect either team to light the scoreboard up with the passing game, and for the Vols to be effective on the ground, they cannot get behind the chains on down & distance with undisciplined penalties. This game is going to be a great matchup and could be one that goes down to the last possession.
Now, for a little venting, I’m not a big fan of the current CFP format featuring December campus games. I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed the college bowl season, and I can’t believe the CFP couldn’t have been structured in a manner where each of the CFP games were slotted into an existing bowl game. That would have allowed for neutral site locations for all of the CFP games, probably either in a dome location or a stadium surrounded by palm trees. And on one additional vent topic, NCAA has to fix the transfer portal where it doesn’t completely derail teams who are rewarded with post-game bowl invitations. Marshall was scheduled to play Army in the Independence Bowl but had to withdraw after 30 players departed. Their spot in the game will now be taken by Louisiana Tech. That is a bad outcome for the remaining 35+ Marshall players and their fans. I don’t know if the fix is as simple as just moving the transfer window to the spring, but something needs to happen to sustain the bowl system which so many college football fans enjoy each holiday season.
Now off my stump and back to the big game. Tennessee has done what they had to do to get to the CFP. It wasn’t always pretty or exciting, but they kept pushing forward to post the second 10-game winning season in Heupel’s four years as the Tennessee head coach. The Vols have exhibited a blue collar, workman like approach to the 2024 season. They need that exact same approach Saturday night in Columbus against a team that is probably somewhat disappointed not to have played in the Big Ten title game after their home upset loss to Michigan.
Who has the emotional edge in this matchup? I suspect Tennessee is more glad to be in the CFP than is Ohio State. If true, will that make any difference? It might. We’ll know with certainty Saturday night.
