No Bowl for the Vols, but All is Not Lost.

In one of the ugliest games I have ever witnessed, the Tennessee Vols lost another heartbreaker to the Vanderbilt Commodores Saturday night at a score of 14-10. For your sake, I won't go into any detail about any calls or plays to avoid any sort of personal anger that is still there. To make things worse, this loss makes a total of 7 for the Vols, which means they will not be eligible for a bowl for the 3rd straight year.  With one game left to play against Kentucky in Lexington this coming Saturday, the general consensus around campus and the fan base is that there is nothing left for this team to play for.  In fact, many are predicting a loss to Kentucky based on the prediction that the Vols will play with no motivation now that a bowl is out of reach, and if this were last year, you would be right.

However, all hope is not lost.  Sure, there isn't a bowl game to play for anymore, but there are still many incentives for this team to play strong in their last game.  First and foremost, it would reflect poorly on this team and coaching staff if they were to lay an egg against Kentucky, and that's something that this team's future can not afford to do.  The best thing going for this team right now is their future.  More specifically, the 2014 recruiting class is one of very few bright spots this team can claim this year. Sitting at #2 by most recruiting services, Butch Jones and this coaching staff have racked up 33 commitments that come from all corners of the US, while one linebacker was actually born in Germany.  If the Vols were to tank the last game due to lack of motivation, it's almost guaranteed that a few of these 33 commits will rethink the future of this team after such a performance.  

Another reason for not throwing the last game is because of momentum.  This Vols teams is in a very similar state as last year's team, as they are heading into the last game of the year against Kentucky looking for a 5th win.  While certain circumstances are not the same (i.e. Dooley was just fired, Chaney was the interim coach, etc.), there is still a chance for this team to end on a high note.  Coach Jones mentioned this morning in his daily press conference that he and his team hope to be "1-0" after Saturday.  To me, this is exactly the mentality that teams in this situation should have.  While playing for a bowl birth is gone, there is still a game to be played that counts towards your win-loss record.  The seniors and other leaders of this team will not let anyone take the day off just because a bowl is out of the question; they will still be motivated to play 60 minutes and walk away from Lexington with a victory. 

Finally, the Vols are playing Kentucky, who has only beaten Tennessee 3 times since 1980.  If I know Butch Jones like I think I do, and I have met Butch, he will not let this Saturday be the 4th time in 33 years.  Butch and the Vols will take care of business this Saturday because, well, it's what we do to Kentucky.  Plus, a Tennessee Vols football team has never lost 8 games in a season.  If Butch hopes to stay very long here in Knoxvegas, he needs to avoid becoming the first UT coach to "accomplish" this unfortunate feat. My prediction for this Saturday? Vols win handily through the run game and a breakout performance by Dobbs, 31-10.

Told ya. That's right... be jealous. 

Vandy Week Preparation

Well, it's that time of the year again, Vol fans.  It's Vandy week, which means that the whole state of Tennessee will be up for grabs at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

As lopsided as the overall record between Tennessee and Vandy is, which is 73-29-5 in UT's favor, Vandy's 41-18 win last year showed a sign of different times in this great rivalry.  With new coach James Franklin, Vandy has a new, rejuvenated energy to the team that hasn't been present for what seems like a century.  This is good for the rivialy between the two teams, but not good at all for UT.  And this new Vandy team is exactly what UT does not need to deal with as we are trying to recover from one of the worst 3 year stretches in program history.

You can thank this doofus for those awful 3 years.

But since the hire of this guy, Butch Jones, Tennessee has also felt it's own sense of rejuvenation within the program that hasn't been felt since the hiring of Lane Kiffin.  Now I know what you're saying, "But Lane Kiffin left after one year to go to USC and in turn left UT in shambles for Derek Dooley to clean up." Well you're right that Kiffin screwed us when he suddenly left for USC while also almost destroying the football program here, but the energy he brought to the team and to potential recruits was unprecedented.  In the end, however, his recruiting practices were very flawed because he broke almost every secondary violation the NCAA has noted, so it was probably best that he left anyway.

But back to the current topic, Butch Jones brings in a new style of discipline that was never present under Dooley.  My theory of how Dooley's teams went 2-1 against Vandy in his 3 years was based solely on the team's offensive talent and immense amounts of luck.  With players like Bray, Rogers, Hunter, Patterson, Rivera, and even our current offensive line that has started the past 3 years, it's hard to imagine how we couldn't win against an inferior Vandy team.  But somehow, Dooley's teams found a way to make the game close when it should have been a blowout to begin with, and I blame that exclusively on the coaching, or lack thereof in this case.  Therefore, this new staff of Jones and Co. have shown marvelous strides when it comes to disciplined football, even with incredibly limited amounts of talent on both sides of the ball.  I mean when Michael Palardy, our kicker and punter, might be the team's MVP for the YEAR, it says a lot to how much talent is absent from this team.  With that said, it's hard to think this 4-6 UT team has a chance against a well-coached and fairly talented 6-4 Vandy team.

However, this is no ordinary game.  It's an interstate rivalry against two teams that hate each other's guts to no end.  At this point, records, stats, and talent get thrown out the door, and all that's left is which team has more heart and will to win.  Both teams will be extremely motivated to walk away with a victory come Saturday's end. However, my prediction has to lean with UT on this one for three reasons:
1. It has been announced today that the seniors on the team decided to bring back the smokey grey uniforms for their last home game of their careers.  This should give the team a little extra boost.
2. Sitting at 4-6, UT has to win both games this week against Vandy and on the road against Kentucky to be bowl eligible, so there's reason to believe UT has more to play for in this game.
3. The game is being played at Neyland Stadium.  If the win against South Carolina didn't convince you that this place gives the Vols an incredible home field advantage, then I don't know what will.

So in the end, I give the Vols a slight victory for these three reasons.  But this game could very easily go either way, and it should be very exciting to watch, so I expect every one of you to be there clad in orange at 7 p.m. on Saturday. GO VOLS!

First Post: Dealing with the Hardships of Losing

Being a fan of a sports team is one of the most stressful and gut-wrenching tasks anyone can take on.  If your "fandom" was lucky enough to be drawn to the University of Tennessee's football team, then the feeling of being stressed over the Vols has become a weekly occurrence for you.  Whether you became a fan of Tennessee when you were admitted to the university or you have been a Vol since birth, you've seen your fair share of ups and downs.  As for myself, my first UT football game was in 2000 when we played Arkansas and won 63-20, and I have been to almost every home game throughout the last 13 years.  Therefore, I think I can say I have some of the best experiences of being a Tennessee fan, especially dealing with losing.  As the Fulmer era came to a close and I had seen about 8 years of UT football, it was hard for me to deal with the transition because a Fulmer-coached team was all I had known.  Obviously the Lane Kiffin era didn't help with my transition, but my early expectations for Dooley were moderately good: they weren't too high but I was hopeful for the future.  However, in epic fashion, Dooley failed me and the Vol faithful in a way that only he could.  So, after the downfalls of 3 coaches in 5 years, I did the only thing I knew to do as a UT fan of 12 years: deal with it and move on.  If there's one thing I have learned over the years, it's that losing happens and you have to deal with it at some point in time.  And as a UT fan right now, dealing with losing is becoming all too familiar for us.  So my advice to you is this: learn to expect for the worst but hope for the best.  UT football is at a state right now where we have to be patient and hope for the best in the future, and the way Butch Jones is building this team is showing great signs of success for years to come.  So as hard as it is to deal with losing almost every week without burning mattresses and rioting in Presidential Court, it's something that has to be done.