Category Archives: Football

No Visits, No Problem for Tennessee Recruiting

With yesterday’s decision by the NCAA to extend its recuiting dead period another month to June 30th, let’s take a look at a handful of ramifications for Tennessee recruiting:

It goes without saying that, along with Ohio State, Tennessee has flat out owned the COVID-19 imposed dead period.  The Vols have added 14 (!!!) commitments during this time span, including two 5-stars and six 4-stars.  This in turn has rocketed the Vols class ranking to #2 nationally behind only the aforementioned Buckeyes and made Tennessee the talk of college football.  So it goes without saying that, whatever Coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff – from assistant coaches to the social media and player personnel teams – are doing is working better than what everyone else is doing.  One might therefore argue that an extension of this dead period, where no on-campus visits are allowed, is beneficial to Tennessee’s efforts going forward.  The old “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

Due to the extension of the dead period, several prospects that Tennessee is heavily recruiting won’t be able to take official visits to other schools that were planned for June.  Most importantly among them, instate TE Hudson Wolfe – one of the top priorities on Tennessee’s entire board – was scheduled to take an official visit to Ohio State the weekend of June 12th, when the Buckeyes were set to host Wolfe among at least a dozen of their current commitments.  With that visit off the table – and his mother was set to attend as well having never been to Columbus before – that could hurt OSU (the presumed leader) should Wolfe want to make a decision sooner rather than later.  Especially as Tennessee continues to recruit him harder than ever.  4-star DE Landyn Watson, who just named Tennessee among his final six schools, was set to take an official visit to Virginia Tech the following weekend, but that’s obviously cancelled.  With the Hokies thought to be the leader in that recruitment, this gives Tennessee more time to recruit Watson harder.

On Tuesday, the NCAA also passed a blanket rule lifting the limit on phone and Zoom-type calls for 2021 football recruits during the since-extended dead period.  By pushing that dead period back and month, that’s 30 more days (plus the rest of May) that recruits will be subject to constant harassment from schools if they don’t go ahead and commit somewhere.  Now, obviously, in this day and age a commitment doesn’t mean that schools stop calling, but it certainly slows it down.  It also allows a young man to just turn off his phone for a while since he’s secure knowing he’s got a spot somewhere that he likes and wants to be.  What does that mean?  Maybe nothing.  But it could absolutely accelerate the timeline even further for some prospects who are already tiring of the process.

With 21 commitments already and a board of realistic targets that in all honesty Tennessee would feel good about with about half that amount of pledges, the Vols sit in an enviable position vis a vis supply (of scholarships) and demand (number of elite recruits very much feeling the Vols at the moment).  And with the above changes to the rule, that could put Tennessee in a strong spot over the next 45 (or more) days as more and more recruits feel the urge to shut things down with a commitment.

Speaking of commitments, Tennessee looks to be in a very strong position to pick up #22 when TE Miles Campbell from South Paulding High in Douglasville, GA announces his decision Monday May 18th.  Campbell, already up to 6’4 and 235 pounds vs. his listed 6’3 220, will be celebrating just his 17th birthday the day of his commitment, making him pretty young relative to his grade.  That leaves even more room for physical growth for a young man who displays a tremendous amount of speed and body control for someone his size.  Campbell, who has offers from Auburn, Florida, North Carolina and Michigan among others, also shows the kind of willingness to block and take on contact (even as a ball carrier from the Wildcat on a few occasions) that is needed along with the pass-catching skills for what Tennessee wants in a TE.  With Tennessee in need of two Tight Ends in this class, Wolfe will absolutely have right of first refusal for the second spot if Campbell does indeed commit to the Vols.  If he decides to head elsewhere though, the Vols do have a nice board behind him.  Tennessee is in great shape with Jumbo ATH Trinity Bell from Albertville, AL, and appears to have a lead on instate Auburn.  The catch with Bell is that, at 6’7 and 250 pounds, he’s projectable at multiple positions from OT to DE along with TE.  So in theory the Vols could take a commitment from Bell and still have a TE spot open.  Tennessee is also right at the top for the #1 JUCO TE in the country in Quentin Moore and is competing with homestate Washington – the Huskies may have the lead for Moore but Tennessee is right there with them.  Finally, there is 4-star Nevada native Moliki Matavao, who has a top 6 that includes Tennessee, Washington (see above with Moore), UGA (who is more focused on Brock Bowers), Penn State (where he’s never visited), Oregon and UCLA.  Matavao visited Knoxville last year and appears to hold Tennessee in high regard, along with apparently having a relationship with star LB Henry To’o To’o.  Finally, of course, Tennessee also has commitments from two Dee Beckwith clones in Roc Taylor and Julian Nixon, who could both project as Hybrid WR/TEs

As long as Tennessee continues recruiting like it has been for the last 4-6 weeks or so, no one in Knoxville is going to complain about an extension of the dead period.  And with the upcoming commitment of Campbell next Monday along with a handful of other prospects who could be on the verge of pledging to the Vols, look for Coach Pruitt and Tennessee to continue to take full advantage and put on more steam.  They have proven that no matter the condition they are prepared to outwork, out-evaluate, and outdo the rest of the SEC and, frankly the rest of the college football world.

Stories of the Decade: All We Have to Do Is Beat Kentucky

If 2014 South Carolina is the decade’s most rewatchable game, 2011 Cincinnati remains one of its most rewatchable offensive performances. Tyler Bray went for 400+ yards, Da’Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter each had 10 catches for 100+ yards, and all three were playing just the second game of their sophomore seasons. It’s worth repeating: other than everything from the first half of 2016, no performance of the 2010’s made you feel like we were closer to being back than walking out of that Cincinnati game.

It made Justin Hunter’s ACL tear on the opening drive at Florida that much harder. Then Bray broke his thumb at the end of an eight-point loss to Georgia. Then the Vols faced #1 LSU, #2 Alabama, #9 South Carolina, and #8 Arkansas four of the next five weeks.

That part went about how you’d think; in hindsight it’s interesting to note the difference between Derek Dooley’s injury-plagued second team getting blown out by Top 10 teams and Butch’s last/Pruitt’s first teams getting blown out by Missouri and Vanderbilt. But in the moment in 2011, it felt like rock bottom from a competitiveness standpoint.

The building frustration led to Thumbwatch 2011; there was a great clip I can’t find anymore where Dooley, clearly tired of being asked about Bray’s health multiple times a week, just exclaimed, “He’s got a broken thumb!” When I get asked the same question too many times, that quote still plays in my head.

But Bray got the green light to return against Vanderbilt. This was James Franklin’s first season in Nashville, and after getting blown out by #12 South Carolina and #2 Alabama, Vandy only lost to Georgia by five, Arkansas by three, and Florida by five. Bowl eligibility was on the table for both teams.

2011 Vanderbilt is one of those games that wouldn’t matter much if Tennessee was “back”, but was really good in its moment, then lost so much of its meaning because of what we’re actually here to talk about today. The Vols went up 7-0 early, Vandy missed a field goal, then Bray threw an interception on the very next play. But he connected with Rogers on a beautiful third down touchdown pass to put Tennessee back in front 14-7.

We’re going along nicely from there, still up 14-7 with 3rd-and-goal with five minutes left in the third quarter. But Bray was pick-sixed, changing the complexion of the entire game. Vanderbilt took the lead three minutes into the fourth quarter. Tennessee made an epic 13-play drive to tie it again, capped by a fourth-and-goal touchdown from Bray to Rogers on a one-handed grab. And Prentiss Wagner ended Vanderbilt’s threat in regulation with an interception at the 35 yard line.

Well-acquainted with post-whistle shenanigans working against us the year before, this time the Vols caught the right break in overtime:

So now, the Vols are 5-6. More importantly, you can still believe the things you wanted to believe after the Cincinnati game: with a healthy Bray and Justin Hunter set to return next fall, this team could be all the things you wanted them to be. Maybe we’d even get a shot at redemption in the Music City Bowl as a nice consolation prize. Things were looking up: injuries took it from us in 2011, but we could really be back in 2012.

#6: All we have to do is beat Kentucky

Tennessee had beaten Kentucky 26 years in a row, at the time the longest-active streak in the nation among annual rivals, and the longest in the history of the SEC (since broken by Florida vs Kentucky at 31 years until 2018). Unlike Vanderbilt, which played in zero bowl games during Tennessee’s 22-year win streak from 1983-2004, Kentucky made the postseason eight times during those 26 years of losing to Tennessee, including the last five seasons in a row.

But they would not be going bowling in 2011. A 2-0 start and a close loss to Louisville were followed by blowouts. Florida won by 38, LSU by 28, South Carolina by 51. In November they did beat Houston Nutt’s final Ole Miss squad, then lost to Vanderbilt by 30. The week before playing the Vols they were feisty in Athens, losing to Georgia 19-10.

That loss knocked them to 4-7 and broke the bowl streak. Rich Brooks revitalized the Cats, who hadn’t made a bowl game since a two-year run with Tim Couch in 1998 and 1999. But Brooks led them to four straight seven-or-eight win seasons from 2006-09, including the memorable 2007 group who beat #9 Louisville and #1 LSU before falling to the Vols in four overtimes.

The rise under Brooks (and subsequent 6-6 campaign in Joker Phillips’ first year) made the Tennessee series closer, but didn’t change the outcomes. In those 26 years, only eight Tennessee-Kentucky games were decided by a single possession, and three of those came in 2006, 2007, and 2009. The Vols made memorable comebacks against Kentucky in 1995 and 2001. In between, including all the games against Tim Couch, the Vols won 56-10, 59-31, 59-21, 56-21, and 59-20. It’s like we were trying to make them so similar.

Sometimes I find that we talk about the current state of the Florida series the way Kentucky talks about us: either “surprise” blowouts, or an unbelievable sequence of events we can sum up in just a few words. Alex Brown. Gaffney. Clausen in the rain. 4th-and-14. The hail mary.

For us, they are particularly cruel and unusual mistakes. For Florida, it’s simply “finding a way to win.” For Kentucky against the Vols in the 2010’s, there’s a 21-0 lead with Jared Lorenzen, still tied for the third-biggest comeback in Tennessee history. A nine-point lead in Knoxville with 12 minutes to play in 2004, swiftly undone by (checks notes) Rick Clausen. There are any number of moments in the 2007 game, from the one yard line on the last play of regulation to just making a 34-yard field goal in double overtime. No Tennessee win has been of greater consequence in the last 13 years.

Even after the events of 2011 and 2017, when the Vols were somehow +4 in turnovers and completed a hail mary on the last play of the game but still lost, I’d imagine this mindset still creeps in for Kentucky fans. The 2017 game was almost a relief for us, the final nail for Butch Jones. But the last two years haven’t produced the results Kentucky fans had in mind against Jeremy Pruitt: blown out in 2018 with their best team since the 1970’s, turned away at the goal line in Lexington last fall. Kentucky still hasn’t won in Knoxville since 1984.

All that to say this: in 2011, you fully expected to beat Kentucky. But you especially expected to beat Kentucky on the heels of that win over Vanderbilt, when Kentucky is playing a wide receiver at quarterback.

Stats of interest from the box score:

  • Matt Roark: 4-of-6, 15 yards
  • Total Yards: Tennessee 276, Kentucky 215
  • Penalties: Tennessee 5-for-32, Kentucky 11-for-85

And yet.

Kentucky “drove” 62 yards in 15 plays to kick a field goal on their opening drive. Early in the second quarter, they blocked a field goal. On Tennessee’s next drive, the Vols had 4th-and-4 at the UK 31, went for it, and failed to convert. So the Cats led 3-0 at the break, but after that first drive had four punts on three three-and-outs. They opened the second half with another one, Bray was intercepted at his own 34-yard line, then Kentucky went four-and-out. The Vols punted. Three-and-out again.

When we say the Vols got beat by a wide receiver playing quarterback, it’s really the insult after the injury. Roark did his job in not turning the ball over. He did almost nothing else. But on 2nd-and-goal with six minutes left in the third quarter, and the Vols finally ready to quit screwing around…they fumbled. And Kentucky made one drive, including a 26-yard Roark scramble on 3rd-and-12, that found the end zone. The Cats led 10-0 with 14 minutes to play.

I still wasn’t worried. It’s Kentucky. And three plays later, Bray and Rajion Neal connected for a 53-yard touchdown pass. Word. Everything is back on.

Kentucky, as you’d expect, went three-and-out. But Bray was sacked on first down, and the Vols punted back. Kentucky got one first down and punted again. This time the Vols failed to convert a 3rd-and-4, punting it back from their own 26 yard line with 4:34 to go. And one more time, Tennessee’s defense produced a three-and-out. That’s eight for the game.

Needing a field goal to tie, Tennessee got the ball at their own 28 with 2:35 to go. Bray and Rajion Neal connected again, this time on 3rd-and-10, to move the ball to the Vol 41.

But two plays later Bray was sacked again. And then on 4th-and-17, he threw an interception.

It still feels surreal.

Joe Rexrode had a really good story on Derek Dooley and Daniel Hood in The Athletic this week. With almost a decade of hindsight, I’m not sure Dooley did any better or worse than a reasonable expectation of the guy who went 17-20 at Louisiana Tech and took over in mid-January. The biggest what-ifs with him are after this game, many of them named Sal Sunseri. But this is the game that made all those what-ifs carry so much extra weight. Losing to Kentucky – to this Kentucky team – cashed in any reserve goodwill he had. Tennessee fans really wanted him to work for a long time because he wasn’t Lane Kiffin. And the 2011 season in particular was full of so many legitimate reasons for the benefit of the doubt between the schedule and the injuries.

But none of that matters when you lose to Kentucky in the last game of the year, a bitter aftertaste that removed any benefit of all the doubt to come. A fun night against NC State led to a flickering moment of real hope against the Gators two weeks later, the Vols back in the Top 25 and ahead of Florida midway through the third quarter. But that lead vanished in quick and brutal fashion. The Vols were close a number of times against the rest of the 2012 schedule. But close wasn’t nearly enough, most especially because of what happened in this game the year before. The weight of the Kentucky loss carried over everything else to come for Derek Dooley, ultimately ushering in a new regime.

This loss meant a lot for Dooley’s career, but hasn’t changed much in the series overall, or Tennessee’s fortune as a program. The Cats are still trying to beat Tennessee. And the Vols are still trying to get back.

More in this series:

#10: Are you sure the referees have left the field?

#9: A Smokey Gray Almost

#8: How will we remember Georgia State?

#7: Josh Dobbs Ignites


Malachi Bennett On Tennessee’s Radar

Had a chance to catch up with Tennessee WR target the other day. The Birmingham-area standout talked about what he’s been doing during the shutdown, the current status of his recruitment, and more below.

Q: What’s your current height and weight?

A: “I’m 6’2, 185 pounds.”

Q: Tell me about your game as a WR.  What are your strengths and what are the major things you think you need to work on?

A: “ My strengths are attacking the ball, my jumping ability, and route running.  I’ve been working a lot on using my hands to get separation from DBs.”

Q: Do you feel like you’re going to be a leader for your team?  If so, what kind of leadership qualities do you bring?

A: “Yes sir.  I bring motivation to my teammates on and off the field.  And I’m big on showing younger guys the right way to do things.”

Q: Do you play any other sports?  Talk about those and how you think competing in multiple sports helps you on the gridiron.

A: “I play basketball, Small Forward.  It’s helped with my leaping ability.”

Q: What have you been doing workout wise during the shutdown?

A: “Drills, cone work, weights, and just a lot of running.”

Q: “How many times have you been to Tennessee’s campus?  Talk about the experience

A: “A lot, I think maybe six or seven times.  The facility really stands out.  The coaches just really treat you like you’re at home.  I’ve been to one game, UAB last season.”

Q: Who is your main recruiter on the Tennessee staff?

A: “Coach Niedermeyer has been recruiting me, but Coach Tee and I talk almost every day.  We talk about personal stuff, football stuff, school.  He’s just trying to get to know me better as a person.”

Q: What do you make of the recent run the Vols have been on?

A: “It shows me they’re doing a good job getting players.”

Q: Tennessee signed Reginald Perry from Fairfield Prep just this past February.  Do you know him well and what’s he told you about Tennessee?

A: “Yes, sir, we’re pretty close.  He said he loves it there, that’s it’s a real brotherhood, and that he loves the coaches.”

A couple of days after we spoke, Bennett put out a Top 8 of Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, UAB and Louisville and Kentucky.  He’s been to all of those campuses except Texas A&M, but he plans to see the Aggies as soon as the visit moratorium is up along with getting back to Tennessee, Georgia (where he’s been for a game but not a campus tour) and likely the rest again as well.  With Tennessee having recently gotten a commitment from Julian Nixon, the Vols now have four pass-catchers on their commitment list, so even if the Vols weren’t a ball of fire on the recruiting trail and likely more to come spots at WR would be at a premium.  Tennessee continues to try with 4-star Donte Thornton from Baltimore and Deion Colzie from Athens, GA, though both look like longshots at the moment.  At the same time, the Vols remain in the mix for a solid prospect like JJ Jones from Myrtle Beach, SC and is trying to get involved with recent Florida decommitment Breshard Smith, who at 6’3 and 5’8 respectively certainly are different types of players, with Jones obviously more of a “big WR” like Tennessee already has committed in Nixon and Roc Taylor.  The Vols are also very much in the mix for speedster Malcolm Johnson from VA who boasts an offer list as impressive as his track times. Bennett’s physical profile is more in between those two, and seems like a good fit with what the Vols have already brought in.  Just from the amount of time he’s spent on Rocky Top and his relationship it’s easy to see that he’s got a lot of familiarity with and fondness for Tennessee.  Should the Vols decide to push for him it’s clear that they would have a very good chance, although he is definitely impressed with the UGA offer and the Dawgs in particular will get a shot to impress him on a visit if they want to.  At the same time, he’s not in any hurry and doesn’t seem to be swayed by all of the momentum Tennessee has right now.  So, this could be a case where it’s best for both sides to let things play out and see what the landscape looks like in a few months.  In the meantime, don’t be surprised to see Bennett continue to pick up more offers – potentially from the instate powers – as his film is impressive as is his off the field personality.

Stories of the Decade: Josh Dobbs Ignites

It’s not on our countdown, but one of the best moments for Tennessee football in a decade full of lesser options came in early 2016: Peyton Manning beat Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game, won his second Super Bowl, and rode off into the sunset.

Manning had been Tennessee’s greatest hero for two decades. Not only did he rewrite SEC and NFL record books, he played 18 seasons at the game’s highest level. Thirteen of Tennessee’s NFL Draft picks taken during Manning’s NFL career made the Pro Bowl: Al Wilson, Jamal Lewis, Shaun Ellis, Chad Clifton, Travis Henry, John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth, Jason Witten, Scott Wells, Dustin Colquitt, Jerod Mayo, Eric Berry, and Cordarrelle Patterson. Arian Foster, a fantasy football god, makes 14.

Jamal won a Super Bowl in 2000 and was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2003 (the same year Manning and Steve McNair split the MVP). Witten made 11 Pro Bowls; only 15 players (including Manning) have ever made more. Berry made five, and would’ve made more if healthy.

But no one ever came close to Manning, in accolades and in popularity among Vol fans. Some of it was the nature of playing quarterback, and the absence of any other NFL starter from Tennessee after him. Some of it was simply Manning.

By the time he retired, the Vols had been in the wilderness for seven years. No offense to Nathan Peterman – we’ll get to him in a minute, actually – but no Vol quarterback had taken meaningful snaps as a starter in the NFL since Peyton. Tee Martin, Erik Ainge, and Jonathan Crompton were all fifth round picks. Tyler Bray, once thought to have the brightest NFL future of any Vol QB since Manning, ultimately went undrafted (but has found stability and success as a backup with the Chiefs and Bears the last seven years).

For a Vol quarterback seeking this kind of long-term legacy, the shoes to fill are large, and have been largely empty since Manning. And into all that stepped a sophomore quarterback we weren’t prepared to expect much of.

#7: Josh Dobbs Ignites

Speaking of unfair expectations, Josh Dobbs’ first collegiate action came against Alabama, Missouri, and Auburn in 2013. Those three teams finished the year ranked seventh, fifth, and second. Dobbs had some excitement around him because he was clearly a different athlete than Justin Worley, who was knocked out of the Alabama game immediately following a surge of optimism against Georgia and South Carolina. And the freshman Dobbs did his best against those odds. He was unable to lead a touchdown drive against Missouri, and the points Tennessee did score against Auburn (23) were quickly overwhelmed by the Tigers’ (55).

And then came one of the first crossroad games for Butch Jones: James Franklin’s final Vanderbilt team, with the Vols at 4-6 and still alive for bowl eligibility. These Commodores would finish the season ranked, and Franklin got the job in Happy Valley. Vanderbilt earned its second win over Tennessee since 1982 the year before in Derek Dooley’s last game; that kind of loss tends not to sting as much from our perspective. But this contest carried real weight for both sides.

Dobbs threw an interception on his first pass attempt, putting the Vols in a 7-0 hole. The Vols went three-and-out on their next two drives, wasting great field position after their own interception. Marquez North was out with an injury. And Tennessee really stayed away from the pass after that.

Dobbs’ final stat line in this game is 11-of-19 (57.9%) for 53 yards (2.8 yards per attempt) with two interceptions. But it was actually even worse than that: Vanderbilt’s infamous 92-yard drive to take the lead with 16 seconds left gave the Vols a few heaves downfield. Dobbs completed two passes against prevent coverage for 14 and 23 yards in those last 16 seconds, then was incomplete on the final play of the game. So before the final drive, Dobbs was 9-of-16 (56.3%) for 16 yards. I think you can handle the YPA math on that.

Something we found ourselves saying some leading up to the 2016 season about Dobbs’ ceiling – do they trust him enough to throw it downfield enough to win? – was first a topic of conversation about his floor. When you have that kind of performance in a crucial game against any Vanderbilt team, you find your way to an assumption from the fan base: this guy isn’t the answer.

Justin Worley was back for his senior season, Riley Ferguson transferred after spring practice, and Tennessee did not sign a quarterback in its (otherwise massively successful) 2014 class. Four-stars Quinten Dormady and Sheriron Jones would come in the next year, setting the stage for competition after Worley left.

I probably led the league in word count in defending Justin Worley in the first half of the 2014 season, so no need to revisit all that. But kudos to that kid for standing back there behind the greenest of offensive lines, which eventually led to him getting knocked out for the season for the second year in a row.

By that point, the Vols had missed a critical opportunity for the second time under Butch Jones: first Vanderbilt to stay bowl eligible in 2013, then perhaps the Gators at their lowest point since we started playing them every year in 2014. Tennessee imploded in the red zone, lost 10-9, and a lot of momentum Jones had built through recruiting fell by the wayside. After a win over Chattanooga, back-to-back top five opponents from Ole Miss and Alabama compounded the problem.

Against the Tide, Nathan Peterman got the start. With a fist-pumping Lane Kiffin on the sideline, Alabama scored a touchdown on its first snap and raced to an unbelievable 27-0 lead just 18 minutes into the game. In the stadium and probably elsewhere, you felt like they might go for 100 points and 1,000 yards.

Peterman gave way to Dobbs, whose first three drives ended in two punts and a fumble. And to be sure, Bama’s defense probably relaxed up 27-0. But Dobbs worked a 10-play, 84-yard drive to get the Vols on the board, then Aaron Medley knocked home three to make it 27-10 at the break.

And then, from the archives at Rocky Top Talk:

In between the Vol defense stopped the Tide on its opening drive of the third quarter, setting up this from Dobbs:  3rd and 7 complete to Marquez North for 22, 3rd and 2 to Ethan Wolf for 10, 3rd and 8 on his own with a brilliant 15 yard pump fake scramble, then another 3rd and goal at the 9 and another touchdown as Von Pearson hit the brakes and they flew right by.

Tennessee didn’t complete the comeback, falling 34-20 after cutting Bama’s lead to 27-17 at that point. But Dobbs erased the memories from Vanderbilt and put possibility on the table. You only had to wait a week to cash it in.

I’ve called this Tennessee’s most rewatchable game of the decade a number of times. Unlike the options from 2016 that carry mixed amounts of frustration for what that season didn’t become, this game – as an incredible team performance, insane comeback, and the genesis of Josh Dobbs as the Tennessee quarterback of the decade – is pure joy. Honestly, Tennessee’s wild comeback against Indiana in the Gator Bowl is probably underrated because this one happened just five years earlier. The after-midnight-but-hey-it’s-daylight-savings! postgame is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written.

In his next-to-last start in 2013 against Vanderbilt, Dobbs was 9-of-16 for 16 yards and two interceptions before facing the prevent defense, plus 11 carries for 23 yards.

In his first start in 2014 at South Carolina, Dobbs was 23 of 40, 301 yards (7.5 YPA), 2 TD, 1 INT.  Plus 24 carries, 166 yards, 3 TD on the ground.

We found our quarterback.

More in this series:

#10: Are you sure the referees have left the field?

#9: A Smokey Gray Almost

#8: How will we remember Georgia State?

Stories of the Decade: How Will We Remember Georgia State?

What kind of decade was it for Tennessee? The total unpredictability of last season is only good enough for eighth on our list of the most important football stories of the last ten years.

For now.

The version of 2019 where it doesn’t work out for Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols down the road leaves last season as an interesting anomaly, but beyond that? We talked a lot late in the year about the most impressive piece of history from 2019: the Vols covered the spread six games in a row, from Mississippi State to Missouri, for the first time since 1990. In that run, Tennessee turned 1-4 into 8-5, and earned forgiveness for losing to Georgia State. It’s an impressive feat.

But for 2019 to truly be remembered well, the Vols of the current decade have to do more than make us forget Georgia State. They have to make us remember it.

If Darrell Taylor doesn’t get drafted in the first round after my bedtime, the Vols will continue this trend:

  • UT First Round picks who played for Fulmer: 19 in 18 years
  • UT First Round picks who played after Fulmer: 3 in 10 years

(If Taylor does get drafted tonight, he’ll at least join a strong group of Cordarrelle Patterson, Ja’Wuan James, and Derek Barnett as post-Fulmer first rounders.)

If no Vols are taken in the second round, you’ll have this:

  • UT Second Round picks who played for Fulmer: 17 in 18 years
  • UT Second Round picks who played after Fulmer: Justin Hunter

(Alvin Kamara was quite the steal in round three.)

One of the best parts of last season’s finish is the way it came on the shoulders of guys who stayed. Darrell Taylor, Daniel Bituli, Nigel Warrior, and Marquez Callaway all made an enormous difference; they’ll all get a phone call at some point this weekend, be it the draft or free agency. And of course, Jauan Jennings was building on an already memorable legacy.

Tennessee didn’t beat any ranked teams in their late season run. But they also weren’t sending the kind of talent that regularly beats ranked teams to the NFL this season. Before the turnaround, all of us spent time lamenting the fact that, “Just play the young guys!” wasn’t necessarily an option the Vols weren’t already exploring. This team was what it was after losing to Georgia State and BYU. This program was what it was after the last 10+ years.

But they found a way anyway.

I want only good things for those five seniors, this weekend and in the years to come. The truth is, their Tennessee legacy is now out of their hands.

If 2019 stands alone, it’s a really interesting story. But if it becomes the first chapter?

Of the most important stories of the last decade, it’s only number eight for now. But if Pruitt and the Vols get things right to start this decade, 2019 will become one of the best and most important stories of the 2010’s.

Stay tuned.

More in this series:

#10: Are you sure the referees have left the field?

#9: A Smokey Gray Almost

Stories of the Decade: A Smokey Gray Almost

My wife and I got married in August of 2013. When we came back from our honeymoon, the first question everyone asked was, of course, “What do you think of the new uniforms?”

Unlike Lane Kiffin’s last minute switcheroo with the black uniforms, Tennessee fans got almost two months of build-up for the smokey grays. My informal opinion is most fans went on to prefer the Nike version with its truly unique helmet, as opposed to the adidas version that eventually showed up at just about every other school they had under contract. The black unis were a hit because, in large part, the Vols played so well in them, even those who really hated the idea couldn’t be so loud about it. I’ve joked before that in my eight years of writing at Rocky Top Talk, the only comment my dad ever left on a post was to express his disdain for the black unis.

Uniforms are serious, polarizing business. As we speak, it feels like Nike is intentionally screwing up NFL uniforms just to make more money when they bring back the old look a couple years later. I’m a fan of clean, unique looks. It’s one of the great things about Tennessee: our orange is immediately distinguishable, as are our checkerboards even when Kentucky tries to steal them. The memories of the Butch Jones era aren’t always fond, but those first Nike unis with the checkerboard stripe down the side of the pants and the back of the helmet? I love those. It keeps everything great about Tennessee’s traditional look, and adds a slight touch to make them even more uniquely ours. If you have an iconic franchise, there’s no reason they should ever wear something like this:

(Also, these are the best road unis we’ve ever worn:)

The initial reaction to the smokey grays seemed somewhere in the middle – a big change for an iconic brand. But in the weeks (and years) ahead, man, they sold. Not just the jerseys, but lots of gray merchandise. I still have a lot of it; it’s helpful when you’re trying to be loud, but not too loud, in hostile territory.

Year one for Butch Jones started off okay: the Vols beat Austin Peay in the opener, then rode an enormous wave of turnovers to blow by Western Kentucky 52-20. Then the Vols were Marcus Mariotaed at Oregon, and Nathan Petermaned themselves at Florida. A 31-24 survival of South Alabama didn’t warm any fuzzies.

Georgia came to Knoxville ranked sixth. The year before, they came as close to disrupting Alabama’s dynasty without actually doing it as anyone, a feat only topped by themselves a few years later. In 2013 they lost a 38-35 thriller at Clemson in the opener, then rebounded with a 41-30 win over South Carolina. The week before Knoxville, they beat LSU 44-41. These dudes were tested, and the Aaron Murray, Todd Gurley, Malcolm Mitchell offense was lighting it up. The Dawgs opened as 10.5-point favorites and it swelled to 13.5 by kickoff.

My wife comes from a huge baseball family, heavily familiar with the sports DNA. But she was newer to football. And getting married three weeks before the first game of the Butch Jones era, I was nervous. It’s a question many of us have asked at some point in the last decade: will the Vols be good enough in time for this person I love to become attached to them?

Georgia scored 10 points on their first two drives. The Vols got a field goal early in the second quarter, but the Dawgs immediately answered with a touchdown. It was 17-3 at halftime, and the Vols had punted four times, plus a three-and-out to open the third quarter.

And then Georgia missed a 39-yard field goal with nine minutes left in the third quarter.

I don’t know how many fans do the two-possessions math, but it’s enough to make a difference. The Vols hadn’t moved the ball all day, but we were still in it with #6 Georgia. And when that happens, all it takes is one play.

The spark, as it turned out, came from Pig Howard. We all know where this game is headed, but before that, Howard caught a 33-yard pass from Justin Worley to get the Vols to the Georgia 40 yard line. Worley ran for 11, then Howard ran for 10. And then, on 3rd-and-10:

https://twitter.com/DrewRoberts/status/386631472662056960

Back in it.

The Vols got a stop, but couldn’t capitalize. But Michael Palardy, doing double duty, bombed a 57-yard punt to back the Dawgs up. Tennessee’s defense earned a three-and-out.

There’s a list of great Neyland Stadium moments that happened in a loss. Everything until the end zone interception in the final minutes against #1 Notre Dame in 1990. The screen pass to Travis Stephens pre-hobnail. Cedric Houston almost going the distance right away against #1 Miami in 2002. Everything before the flash flood against Oregon in 2010. That first interception against Oklahoma in 2015.

This is definitely on that list:

Before he was the guy making three dozen tackles in big games, Jalen Reeves-Maybin was the guy who blocked this punt. Devaun Swafford gets the score, I believe it’s Geraldo Orta who gets the decleater at the goal line. And Neyland and the Vols are fully alive.

What’s truly amazing about this game is that everything left to happen all transpired in the last minute of the third quarter, the fourth, and the overtime. Aaron Murray ran for 57 yards on the last play of the third, Georgia scored on the first play of the fourth, and maybe it’s over. But nope: Rajion Neal busts one on 4th-and-1 for 43 yards, then finishes off the drive, and we’re tied again. The Vols get a stop, and two epic drives unfold. Tennessee goes 80 yards in 13 plays, converting two 4th-and-1’s and a 3rd-and-10. Neal scores again from seven yards out, and the Vols have their first lead of the day, 31-24, with 1:54 to go. Rajion on the day gets 148 yards on 28 carries.

Aaron Murray, to his absolute credit, refuses to be denied. Ten plays, 75 yards, no timeouts, three third down conversions, including a two yard pass with five seconds left to send it to overtime.

You know how it ends. But this one was a great example of what can be in a coach’s first year, even when you don’t win. Butch Jones was already off and running on the recruiting trail. But this one made people believe, including my wife. It’s a great testimony to what Neyland can be, even when we don’t win.

The Vols had to sit with it through the bye week. South Carolina, ranked 11th, was next. Tennessee didn’t play as well as they did against Georgia.

But Marquez North and Michael Palardy found a way.

If you forgot, and I bet you haven’t, Derek Dooley never beat a ranked team in three years. When Butch Jones almost got #6 Georgia, then beat #11 South Carolina?

Here’s one of the pictures that’s changed the most over time:

When it happens, you think it’s the first of many. Turns out, it might’ve been the best win in all of Jones’ tenure. His teams went on to beat #19 Georgia, #12 Northwestern, #19 Florida, #25 Georgia, and #24 Nebraska. None were ranked higher on gameday than #11 South Carolina here. Among teams ranked in the final AP poll, Jones’ Vols beat #24 Northwestern in 2015, and #14 Florida and #16 Virginia Tech in 2016. None finished the year better than South Carolina in 2013 at #4.

You just never know. We thought Marquez North would be a star for years to come, but this became his finest hour. These two games over three weeks felt like the beginning, like they should’ve earned a much higher place than #9 on our list of the most important stories of the decade. They’re still a terrific example of what can be powerful, in a coach’s first year and in Neyland at all times. But they’ve become the first example of what came to haunt Jones’ tenure: great moments that didn’t ultimately last because they didn’t turn into great seasons.

More in this series:

10. Are you sure the referees have left the field?

About that preseason college football magazine . . .

Hello!

Greetings from the Gameday on Rocky Top bunker, where I have been distancing myself from all manner of unpleasantries. I’d like to thank John Unspellable (apologies to Spencer Hall for stealing his joke for like the fourth time — it works for all Eastern European and Polynesian names and never gets old!) . . . thanks to John K. for entertaining me during this unique period in our history.

It’s a good time to be a health care lawyer with reliable internet, but you might say that it’s kind of a bad time for most everything else. There are more important things than football, right?

But you know what? There are few more important unimportant things than football. By the way, I have been up to my nostrils in football stats, coaching changes, and various and sundry football minutiae and have been typing incessantly for like 48 hours straight, sustaining on air-fried french fries and chicken salad. So really, I’m not responsible for anything I say here.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Footbaw. The question on everyone’s mind right now — just behind “This is probably just allergies, right?” — is this: “When are we going to get back to business?”

“Business,” as it concerns me wearing this hat and you reading this post, translates to questions about whether and when we are going to publish our Gameday on Rocky Top magazine. Allow me to quote Fiddler on the Roof to answer that question: “I’ll tell you. I don’t know.”

Here’s the thing. We don’t yet know whether there’s even going to be a football season. Or whether they’ll allow non-conference games. Or fans.

But here’s the other thing. Does publishing a preseason football magazine even depend on whether there’s a football season? And if so, how much? We’ve said in this space and at the other place many times that football is almost as much about anticipation as it is actually watching the games. So, as long as I have hope that there will be a season, I am interested in football.

But . . . if someday soon somebody in a suit and tie trots out to a podium and says, “No football for you,” well then, spending tens of thousands of dollars to print thousands of copies of a publication that depends on anticipation of a thing that’s definitely not going to happen is probably not in the Harvard Manual of Prudent Business Decisions. Woo for run-on sentences.

But here’s the other, other thing. Suppose that dude in the tie steps up to the podium in June, clears his throat, and exclaims, “GEAUX TIGAHS!” If that happens, we’re going to want a preseason football magazine, stat, y’all. But if I wait until June to get started, it will be too late.

Thus my current state of drowning in football stats, coaching changes, and fingers on auto-pilot fueled by fake fried food saying things without my mind’s consent. We’ve been writing anyway, so we might as well use it, is what I’m saying.

So, the “whether” is pretty easy. That’d be a “yes.”

But “when” and “how” we will publish is still TBD. We’ll let you know when we know. If you have opinions on it, leave said opinion in the comments below and the next time I surface to shower, I’ll check in.

For now, I’m just going to leave you with some random impressions that are rattling around in my troubled mind after a marathon writing session today:

  • This is the year Will Muschamp gets fired by his schedule.
  • Somebody needs to institute a transfer season so there’s a finish line of some sort. I’m all for players transferring; I just wish they wouldn’t do it while I’m in the middle of a sentence.
  • So let me get this straight: Ole Miss fired Hugh Freeze because of a scandal, gave Matt Luke three years to rehab the program’s reputation, and is now tossing the keys to Lane Kiffin? Okay, then.
  • Eliah Drinkwitz is going to stab somebody in the heart while they’re looking up his name.
  • The bat cooties have screwed everybody, but especially programs with new coaches.
  • Georgia’s defense was even better than you thought last year. Its offense was even worse. They really started to miss Jim Chaney a few games in, and this year they’re going to miss Sam Pittman and Jake Fromm and their offensive line, and they draw Alabama from the West. Meanwhile, Florida’s getting better. Therefore: Florida over Georgia for the East this year? I think I just talked myself into it. Discuss.
  • LSU was about as awesome as awesome gets last year. But hoo-boy, a lot of that awesome might well be long gone. It’s not just Burrow; they return less production than anyone in the league. The OL loses 57 of 75 starts! And how much of Burrow was actually Brady? He’s gone, too, and so is the defensive coordinator. They could lose five games. Or they could run the table because of talent and Red Bull. Geaux Tigahs!
  • With anxiety over Georgia and LSU, is this Alabama’s to win again? I hate those guys. But . . .
  • . . . Texas A&M is sneaking up on the West. I may give it to them.
  • Auburn can beat anybody this week and lose to themselves next week.
  • For like the fourth year in a row, we’re going to be asking this question about halfway through the season, “Wait. When did Kentucky get good?”
  • Sam Pittman and Kendal Briles in charge of the offense with Barry Odom leading the defense? Huh. That could actually work.
  • When was the last time Alabama didn’t have to replace either of its coordinators?
  • Mike Leach didn’t even bother hiring an offensive coordinator.

That’s all. My french fries are getting cold.

JT Daniels to Tennessee? Let’s Discuss…

With the news that former 5-star QB JT Daniels has entered the transfer portal, followed by the report from 247 Sports analyst that “Tennessee is among the teams to watch,” all of a sudden there is some real intrigue with a QB position the battle for which seemed to lose a little steam with incoming 5-star freshman Harrison Bailey not getting to participate in spring practice due to COVID-19.

The possibility does not come without its concerns.  Among them, would it cause any of the existing QBs on the roster to leave?  Well, even without the possibility of Daniels joining the program, Tennessee seems likely to lose at least one of JT Shrout and Brian Maurer either before or during the 2020 season.  That would leave the 2020 team with only Jarrett Guarantano, Harrison Bailey, Jimmy Holiday, and whoever of Shrout/Maurer is still around – a talented but very inexperienced bunch behind the much-maligned and tough-but-injury prone Guarantano.  And after 2020 Guarantano will be gone, leaving the position potentially even thinner.  So unless Daniels would cause Bailey, a five-star himself and the jewel of the 2020 class, to leave, any potential loss of personnel would likely be more than negated by Daniels himself.

As for the 2020 team itself, adding Daniels to the mix would be the ultimate “cream rises to the top” moment for Tennessee’s QB room and ultimately vastly raise the ceiling of the 2020 team.  There are three likely scenarios that could play out: 1) Daniels, a Top 20 overall player in the 2018 class despite effectively playing up a year, who started at USC as a true freshman before missing all but the first half of the first game of 2019, wins the job.  That means he’s beaten out the 5th year senior in Guarantano, a ballyhooed freshman in Bailey, and the rest of the QBs on the roster, showing the kind of talent that made him that sort of superstar prospect, 2) Guarantano wins the job.  That means that he – a 5th year senior in his first season with the same offensive coordinator as the season before – has beaten out Daniels, Bailey, and the rest, or 3) Bailey wins the job, which means his talent is just so damn good, and his grasp of the offensive system so damn advanced, that he’s beaten out Daniels, Guarantano, and the rest.  In either scenario, iron has sharpened iron and the Vols will have the best QB they can possibly have leading what should easily be Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s best team in his three-year tenure.  As an aside, any of those would still leave the option of redshirting Maurer, a QB with a lot of potential who would be great to keep in the program.

The next concern is the possibility that Daniels’ presence on the roster turns off high school QBs in the 2021 and 2022 classes.  As far as 2021 is concerned, the Vols are realistically in on only one QB at the moment in Top 100 prospect Kaidon Salter.  And while Salter is potentially a very, very good QB, not only is he not yet committed to Tennessee in the first place but he’s also simply not the prospect Daniels is.  2022 is another issue when it comes to the potential for Tennessee to add an elite QB in the class.  Between instate stud Ty Simpson and legacies Braden Davis and Kaden Martin – all three of whom are high level prospects with elite offers – as well as 4-star MJ Morris who has been to Knoxville multiple times – the Vols are frankly in the best position to land an elite QB in the class in recent and maybe even not so recent memory.  That said, are guys who would at most overlap with Daniels for one season going to be scared off by his presence?  And to be honest, is Daniels likely to still be on the roster in 2022?  One would think that his goal is to spend at most two seasons somewhere – throwing for a ton of yards and winning a ton of games – before bouncing for the NFL.  And if that hasn’t happened maybe he’s simply not the prospect he’s cracked up to be. 

Finally, there is the fact that right now Tennessee is a few scholarships over the 85-limit.  To that I say…so.freaking.what.  That’s what Pruitt gets paid upwards of $5-6 million dollars a year to figure out.  As good of a job as he’s done creating a roster that is an SEC East dark horse even without Daniels in 2020, there are still players who just don’t belong on an SEC roster.  And like the great Brent Hubbs of Volquest always says (usually about a recruiting class, but still), the numbers always work themselves out. 

The bottom line is that Quarterback is the most important position in football, and if you have the opportunity to add a truly elite talent to your roster you do it and figure the rest out later.  Should all of the above concerns be given consideration?  Sure.  But other than Bailey transferring – which is hard to see happening but certainly not impossible – none of them supersede what adding Daniels could do for the 2020 team and for the program overall. 

Stories of the Decade: Are You Sure the Referees Have Left the Field?

The last three weeks we’ve looked back at some of Tennessee’s most rewatchable games: the dramatic, the dominant, and the best performances. It doesn’t take long to realize anything related to most rewatchable for the Vols is going to lean heavy into the past.

But even with fewer happy moments to choose from, I’ve found myself wanting to talk about more recent events as well. Like a lot of places, we put out some decade retrospective stuff in December, focusing on our favorite things from the last ten years. For this summer’s Gameday on Rocky Top Magazine – which we believe will still be a thing – I wrote a piece on the most important stories of the decade and put them in chronological order.

But even before sports were postponed, I found myself thinking about expanded versions of the stories in that list – some good, some bad, some weird – and trying to rank them in order of importance. Of everything that happened to Tennessee football in the 2010’s, which moments ended up having the biggest impact?

Like you, I’m hopeful we’ll get to tell stories about the present and future of Tennessee football really soon. Until then, here’s a look back at the more recent past and how it impacts the present. Starting today, with two games we might’ve thought would be the most difficult losses of the decade at the time they happened. Turns out, they barely made the list.

10. Are you sure the referees have left the field?

Here’s the argument for Derek Dooley heading into year zero one:

  • Not Lane Kiffin
  • Said “britches” in his introductory press conference
  • Mom was entertaining
  • Not Lane Kiffin

But man, points one and four were strong. We wanted this dude to work, especially for those reasons.

Before Kiffin’s departure (which we’ll get to in this list), we were talking ourselves into the Vols as a dark horse SEC East candidate in 2010. The 2009 Vols finished just 7-6, but were 24th in SP+. Aside from big wins over Georgia and South Carolina, Tennessee was competitive with Florida, should’ve beaten Alabama, and ran into one of Virginia Tech’s most dangerous teams in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Eric Berry would go pro and the Vols would need a new quarterback. But the talent level within the program still felt high enough to dream. (2010 was the right year for dreams to come true in the SEC East, as it turned out: South Carolina would win their first and only division title at only 5-3.)

Kiffin’s departure didn’t take down a solid recruiting class right away. And Dooley’s Vols came out feisty: a 13-3 lead on Oregon in the second quarter in Knoxville, and still down just seven late in the third quarter before a pick six opened all the floodgates. The Gators, coming off a two-year tear, won by just 14 against Dooley’s first squad. The reality check could’ve come the next week against UAB, but the Vols survived in overtime.

And then, #12 LSU in Baton Rouge.

Jordan Jefferson – remember when LSU couldn’t find a quarterback who could throw? – ran 83 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play. And you figure, okay, maybe this is the comeuppance. Maybe this is the reality, we’re going to be bad for a while, and we’ll just take a whipping here.

But LSU’s next two drives ended with an interception and a missed field goal. The Vols tied it up. More turnovers, more missed field goals, and suddenly it’s still 7-7 going to the fourth quarter. LSU added a field goal in the first minute to make it 10-7.

And then, manna from heaven. Two big plays – a 37-yard completion to freshman Justin Hunter on 3rd-and-3, a 20-yard run from Tauren Poole on 3rd-and-6 – and the Vols had the lead. LSU got a 47-yard completion to first and goal at the nine yard line, so the joy didn’t seem built to last. But LaMarcus Thompson made a fantastic end zone interception on the very next play, LSU’s fourth turnover.

The Vols had 4th-and-1 at the LSU 31 with 5:41 to play, went for it, and didn’t get it. And so began a 16-play drive for the Tigers.

We know the ending, but along the way you forget, or at least I did, that on this drive LSU converted 3rd-and-13 and 4th-and-14.

And then, the ending.

I remember one of my friends calling me as soon as Dooley and the Vols came barreling onto the field in celebration, and having about a 20-second conversation about how the Vols – despite being out-gained by like 200 yards – deserved to win because Les Miles deserved to lose a game like this every once in a while. And then I remember hanging up the phone real fast.

I laughed when I went back and read what we wrote at Rocky Top Talk in the immediate postgame: what if those sixty seconds (when we thought we won) are as good as it gets this year?

But then, a month later, enter Tyler Bray. And suddenly, it got better.

Bray rewrote Tennessee’s freshman passing record book, but did so against 1-11 Memphis, 4-8 Ole Miss, 2-10 Vanderbilt, then 6-6 Kentucky. The four-game winning streak on his shoulders built all kinds of optimism for 2011 and beyond under Dooley, with a nice year zero prize: a first (and, we hoped, maybe only) trip to Nashville for the Music City Bowl. North Carolina would serve as a nice Level 2 for Bray, helping us understand more of what we should expect from him in the future.

A fairly compelling football game broke out. Trailing 10-7, Bray hit fellow freshman Da’Rick Rogers for a 45 yard score with 90 seconds left in the first half. That was enough for Carolina to answer, taking a 17-14 lead into the locker room. That score held until the final five minutes, when Bray hit Hunter from eight yards out to give the Vols a 20-17 lead…because the Vols missed the extra point. Dun dun dun.

Carolina turned it over on downs, but the Vols couldn’t run out the clock. UNC took over at their 20 yard line with 31 seconds left and no timeouts. That part, too – all this in just 31 seconds – I’d forgotten.

The clock stops first because Janzen Jackson gets a 15-yard personal foul for…I believe launching is the technical term, though I’m not sure I can recall it being flagged before or since. That’s at the end of a 28-yard completion, so now Carolina has it at the Vol 37. They pick up 12 more yards on the next play, then spike the ball with 16 seconds left. It would’ve been a 42-yard field goal to tie from here.

And then they run a draw play to get a little closer, I guess. It’s a ridiculous idea. But you know what happens next.

Ten years later, it’s still a question worth asking: which loss hurt more? For me, it’s this one: takes away from your momentum at the end of the year, and it’s much less your fault. Plenty of stuff the Vols could’ve done differently, in regulation or the two overtimes to come. But also, the referee is supposed to stand over the ball while Carolina is running half their personnel on and off the field as those final seconds tick down, and prevent T.J. Yates from (wisely) spiking the ball anyway with one second left (followed by the head referee infamously saying, “The game is over.”) These days we have a rule against that. But not in 2010.

In an alternate universe, the Vols and Tar Heels started a home-and-home series the following year, plenty of chances for revenge and all that.

Instead, we got the peak of the Derek Dooley era, fittingly, by beating Butch Jones and Cincinnati in week two of 2011. And some of the steps to that peak came from the build-up of this argument: the Vols went 6-7 in 2010, but were 8-5 when the game ended the first time. I think the 2010 Vols are still overachievers, especially considering the three coaches in three years bit, the way they fought against Oregon and Florida early, and didn’t quit late.

From what I believe was our fourth Music City Bowl recap piece:

It just twists the knife deeper to know that the Vols were beat twice, in a way, because the other team was so insane, it accidentally worked to their advantage.  Both LSU and UNC tried to substitute with far, far too little time left on the clock.  In Baton Rouge, the Vols responded to that insanity in kind, and it cost us.  In Nashville, I’m not sure the umpire ever even saw it…because the thought that they would go ahead and try to kick instead of spiking it on third down really was that crazy.

On January 1, 2011, those two games seemed like they would definitely be both the hardest and craziest losses we took this decade. But just you wait.

Our Most Rewatchable Performances

In this series we’ve looked at most rewatchable games and most rewatchable beat downs. What about the most rewatchable individual and team performances?

A few of Tennessee’s most memorable individual performances became part of Tennessee’s most rewatchable games. We’ve already covered Josh Dobbs at South Carolina in 2014, Travis Stephens at Florida in 2001, Tony Thompson at Mississippi State in 1990, and Erik Ainge at Kentucky in 2007, among others. There are also some record-breaking performances that simply get overshadowed by the outcome: Al Wilson’s three forced fumbles against Florida in 1998 is a school record, but just one piece of that grand narrative.

For this list, I tried to look at games that were particularly defined by what the individual or team did. A huge, huge thanks to the folks who put Tennessee’s football media guide together, which was incredibly helpful in building this list.

10. 1991: Carl Pickens at Louisville

In the first ever ESPN Thursday night game, the season opener saw the #11 Vols, two-time defending SEC Champions, head to Louisville to face current Purdue coach Jeff Brohm (who breaks his ankle in this game). Other than Peyton Manning, I’m not sure any Vol had as much Heisman hype in Week 1 than Carl Pickens. Eric Berry was a more unique story as a defensive player, though Pickens played both ways his freshman season. Heath Shuler would eventually finish second. But Pickens was a two-year standout coming into the ’91 campaign, with Andy Kelly back for his senior year to throw bombs. In this game, Pickens catches a 75-yard touchdown pass and returns a punt 67 yards for another score, the longest combination of two touchdowns by two different means in school history.

9. 1995: Peyton Manning & Joey Kent at Arkansas

Overshadowed immediately because the Vols beat Alabama for the first time in ten years the next week in the number one game on our beat down list. But in the moment, a Top 20 clash between the #10 Vols and #18 Arkansas, who went on to win the SEC West in 1995. The Razorbacks scored 31 points on what became a really good Vol defense. But this was Peyton Manning’s national coming out party: 384 yards through the air, at the time his career high (which he’d go on to top four more times). And Joey Kent tied a school record with 13 receptions (with Pickens from the 1990 Notre Dame game, maybe the most rewatchable game the Vols lost). Tennessee won 49-31, with Manning and Kent both on their way to rewriting the Vol record books.

8. 1999: Tennessee Defense vs Wyoming

There’s a lot of nostalgia here: the season opener after winning the national championship the year before. A great Neyland Stadium moment when Jamal Lewis gets 21 yards on the first play from scrimmage in returning from his ACL tear. For me, this was my first game in the student section as a freshmen at UT. But the school record here belongs to the defense: a ludicrous 13 sacks against the Cowboys. You watch some of these old games and it just wasn’t a fair fight, this one certainly among them.

7. 1998: Tee Martin at South Carolina

This one you probably know: Tee Martin completes his first 23 passes against the Gamecocks, setting an NCAA record. An incredible accomplishment considering he started the year struggling through the air against Syracuse and Florida. Another game time capsule game for the 1998 season.

6. 2011: Tyler Bray, Da’Rick Rogers & Justin Hunter vs Cincinnati

We go back and talk about this game a fair amount, and not for the Derek Dooley vs Butch Jones weirdness. Other than anything from 2016, I think you walked out of this game feeling like the Vols were closer to being “back” than any other point in the last decade. Tyler Bray set a school record for completion percentage among QBs with more than 40 attempts, going 34-of-41 (82.9%) for 405 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. And Da’Rick Rogers and Justin Hunter turned in the only dual 10+ catch/100+ yard game in school history, both getting 10 catches with Hunter gaining 156 yards and Rogers an even 100. Injuries derailed all this momentum the next few weeks, but in the moment, life was good. And it remains one of the best passing/receiving performances in school history.

5. 2019: Jarrett Guarantano, Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway & Josh Palmer at Missouri

What’s the most rewatchable game from last season? Kentucky and the Gator Bowl have the best endings. South Carolina is most enjoyable from a beat down perspective. And if you’re looking for the one that provides the most hope, it might actually be Alabama. The Vols beat Missouri 24-20; doesn’t seem like a lot to shout about. But behind a couple of blocked field goals, a Mizzou trick play touchdown, and a fumble in Tiger territory, Tennessee dominated. The Vols outgained Missouri by 246 yards, their largest margin vs FBS competition in five years. Jarrett Guarantano threw for 415 yards, joining Manning and Bray as the only Vols to hit that number. And for the first time in school history, Tennessee had three receivers break the 100-yard barrier: 6 for 124 for Josh Palmer, 5 for 115 for Jauan Jennings, 6 for 110 for Marquez Callaway.

4. 1989: Chuck Webb vs Ole Miss

With Reggie Cobb’s Tennessee career over at midseason, the CobbWebb became simply the Chuck Webb show. And no one has ever been better than Webb on this day: 294 yards on the ground against what became an 8-4 Ole Miss team. It’s a ridiculous performance, one of two from his late season flurry that deserves your attention…

3. 1989: Chuck Webb vs Arkansas

Three years before they joined the SEC, #10 Arkansas met the #8 Vols in the January 1, 1990 Cotton Bowl. And Webb was at it again, running for 250 yards, still the second-most in school history. It’s a better opponent in what became a really good football game: the Vols won 31-27, capping off an 11-1 SEC Championship season.

2. 2001: Kelley Washington vs LSU

In Tennessee’s first game post-9/11, #7 Tennessee hosted #14 LSU on Saturday night in Knoxville. We know what happened in the rematch and all that, though you’ll get less bad vibes watching the first encounter because Rohan Davey doesn’t get hurt. But the story here became Kelley Washington: 11 catches for a school-record 256 yards. I’ve never been at a game where everyone in the building knew what was going to happen, and then it happened anyway like this. Casey Clausen was going to #15. And Nick Saban’s defense simply could not stop it.

1. 1997: Peyton Manning vs Kentucky

The Couch/Manning graphic at the start of this broadcast is nice for storytelling purposes, but there simply was no “Manning vs _________” for any other college quarterback by this point. Couch, the #1 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, was good: 476 yards, three touchdowns, 31 points for Kentucky. Manning was Manning: 523 yards, still a school record vs power five competition, five touchdowns, 59 points for the Vols. Peyton had bigger wins and more crucial performances, specifically two weeks later against Auburn in the SEC title game. But if you want the poetry of the individual performance, this is Manning’s masterpiece.