Same Old Vols
Entering the 2015 season, the hype surrounding the Tennessee football program was/is unprecedented for a team that finished just 1 game above .500 last season. However, this Oklahoma game had a different feel, it was different. The University “Checkered Neyland” for only the 2nd time in school history and for the 2nd time the Vols lost a heartbreaker while the fan base was sent home confused wondering what happened.
What happened? What happened was that with a 17 point home lead the offensive playcalling became too conservative. The “kill” mentality is something that our coaching staff just doesn’t have. The only game in which I can remember this coaching staff going for the kill was in the bowl game last season when they threw a halfback pass to take a 21 point lead against Iowa. Where was that this weekend? To myself, and at least 102,455 others, this game was more important than the bowl game. This game meant more; this game was THE game.
When I say “THE GAME,” I mean we still play Alabama, and, yes, we still go to the Swamp and get Georgia at home. But this was “the game” that was meant to let the country know that Tennessee Football was back. This was “the game” that most people had circled on the calendar simply because “Big Game Bob” wants nothing more than to beat the SEC and anyone in it, simply because the trash talk that has gone on from players and coaches alike: about how Tennessee wasn’t good enough to beat them. Correction: Tennessee was good enough to beat Oklahoma and beat them badly. The coaching philosophy was not.
You see, Tennessee was one play away from winning the game on Saturday night. Which play it was, well that can be discussed. Was it the 4th and Goal from the 1 yard line, that Jones decided to go for a field goal rather than score a touchdown at home? Was it the missed sack on 3rd and 9 where Mayfield escaped and fired a bullet to Shepard for the first down? Was it the pass interference call on Malik Foreman that was so uncatchable that Lebron James jumping off of Shaqulle O’ Neal’s shoulders couldn’t have caught it? Was it the opening drive of the 3rd quarter that saw Tennessee drive with ease, only for it to stall and miss the field goal?
The fact of the matter is that Tennessee lost. We still love our Vols and we will still lose with them when they lose, and win with them when they win. But this one hurts just a little more than most. I read on Twitter following the game, “Tennessee is like a bad ex, you keep hoping they will change, and just when you think they are coming around and about to change, they don’t.”
I think that sums it up pretty well, but I stand by my 8-4 preseason prediction, in which I had UT losing to Oklahoma. So to say I am surprised we lost might not be fair; it’s how we lost.
