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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.

Our 10 Most Rewatchable Beat Downs

Last week we shared our picks for the most rewatchable Tennessee games of the last 30 years. They lean toward the dramatic, with plenty of offense from both sides.

But maybe you love seeing Tennessee’s defense do its thing? Or maybe, in these strange days, you’re in the mood for pure dominance?

Here are our picks for Tennessee’s most rewatchable beatdowns:

10. 1989: Tennessee 24 UCLA 6

The birth of the “Decade” of Dominance. The Vols started 0-6 in 1988, then won their last five games, a story told in full on the latest Host of Volunteers podcast. The 1989 Vols barely beat Colorado State in the opener. And then they went to #6 UCLA in a west coast night game, and rolled. A filthy coming out party for the CobbWebb – you’ll see all kinds of triple option fun in this game with those two and Sterling Henton.

9. 1990: Tennessee 40 Mississippi State 7

After an 11-1 SEC Championship season in 1989, Chuck Webb blew his knee out in the second game of the 1990 season. Enter Tony Thompson, who ran for 248 yards at Mississippi State in his first start. Bonus points for the fumblerooski in this one.

8. 1997: Tennessee 38 Georgia 13

There are lots of great Peyton Manning choices for this list, but none of them combine such a great rushing performance against a quality opponent. Georgia was undefeated and ranked 13th. The Vols made a change at running back, and this became the “Give the Ball to Jamal” game: 343 yards through the air for Manning, 232 on the ground for Jamal Lewis, and one of the best beatdowns of a good team in the last 30 years.

7. 1993: Tennessee 55 South Carolina 3

The Steve Tanneyhill revenge tour. After the long-haired South Carolina quarterback led an upset the previous year – the Gamecocks’ first in the SEC, which also cost Johnny Majors his job – he came to Knoxville for round two. If you’d like to see why SP+ rates the ’93 Vols as the decade’s best, this blowout is a great example. Also rewatchable: the 1995 edition, where a senior Tanneyhill drove the Gamecocks to the one yard line on the opening drive. He was helicoptered on a goal line hit, couldn’t get in on second or third down, and the Vols blocked the field goal and ran it back for a touchdown to kick off a 56-21 beat down.

6. 2001: Tennessee 45 Michigan 17

Heartbroken after losing to LSU in the SEC Championship Game, this was a terrific epilogue on the 2001 season. The first and only meeting between these two programs, and the first after the Manning/Woodson Heisman drama four years earlier. And yep, it’s a beatdown. Jason Witten outrunning their secondary is the most memorable highlight, but far from the only one.

5. 2007: Tennessee 35 Georgia 14

One of the clearest crossroad games of the last 30 years: lose, and Fulmer’s job is in serious trouble. Win, and you’re in first place in the SEC East. And Tennessee outright dominated a team that would finish the year ranked second in the nation.

4. 2006: Tennessee 35 California 18

One of the most joyfully surprising evenings I’ve ever seen at Neyland. I think it’s how equally surprising the struggles of 2005 were, that made you doubt if the Vols could bounce back for the first time in 15+ years. And then they bounced back with a vengeance in this one. My favorite blowout that didn’t involve our biggest rivals.

3. 1992: Tennessee 31 Florida 14

The downpour. Heath Shuler and the Vols won a thrilling 34-31 contest at Georgia the week before in Phillip Fulmer’s interim stint. This one, in front of the rain-soaked masses in Knoxville, was even more surprising and brilliant.

2. 1990: Tennessee 45 Florida 3

If you want to skip to the second half, it’s cool. The Vols led 7-3 at the break, and Dale Carter probably should’ve let the second half kickoff bounce out of bounds. He did not. And the Vols never looked back. Easily the best single half of football of my lifetime in Steve Spurrier’s first trip to Knoxville as the Gator coach. Florida was ranked ninth. The Vols won by 42.

1. 1995: Tennessee 41 Alabama 14

Other than everything that happened in 1998, this is the best of the Phillip Fulmer era. No wins over the Tide since 1985. Peyton Manning and Joey Kent on play number one. Streaks are made to be broken; this one was obliterated.

What did we miss?

Vols Land Commitment from Instate WR Merrill

With today’s commitment of WR Walker Merrill from Brentwood HS in Nashville, Tennessee now has nine public commitments. Merrill is the second of those from the Volunteer State along with ATH Elijah Howard, and is another elite talent in the Vols’ commitment column. Our prior column understated both Merrill’s standing on Tennessee’s board as well as the idea that his offers from LSU and Auburn were committable, thereby now him in that elite tier. Nevertheless, his commitment does highlight the broader point, which is that regardless of the early-cycle narrative that the state of Tennessee is perhaps down in talent compared to prior years the Vols will very much still have a chance to build the 2021 class around the bigtime talent that does exist within the state’s borders.

With Merrill now in the fold the Vols can turn their instate attention firmly to LB Junior Colson – who appears to be closing in on a decision and has the Vols firmly at the top of his list along with Michigan, LSU, and OU – OL William Griffin and Dietrick Pennington, TE Hudson Wolfe, and WRs Adonai Mitchell and Tray Curry – all of whom are elite prospects themselves.

Were the Vols able to land those 5-6 players above to go with Howard and Merrill the 2021 class would have a bigtime base of instate talent to build around, and once the season gets started there will likely be more talent that emerges. As Coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff seek to add North Carolina to Georgia and Alabama in terms of its “Focus States,” they’ll also continue to be opportunistic in areas where individuals on the staff have ties, such as the DMV and Philadelphia area for TE Coach Joe Osovet and IMG Academy for QB Coach Chris Weinke, along with of course recruiting nationally for elite prospects that it can find itself involved with.

Merrill’s commitment also means the Vols will likely be incredibly choosy at WR as they now have two bigtime commitments in him and Jordan Moseley and a greater need for numbers at other positions after signing three studs in 2020 as well as adding walkon former 4-star Mykel Jones as a multi-year transfer. The Vols are of course very much in the mix for the aforementioned instate WRs Mitchell and Curry, and are also bigtime contenders for Top 50 prospect Donte Thornton, recent Notre Dame decommitment Deion Colzie from Athens (same school as Len’neth Whitehead), as well as others like Christian Lewis, Chauncey Magwood and Malcolm Johnson. After signing a bigtime WR class in 2020, 2021 is setting up to be the class in which Pruitt and his staff get the WR room to the level it needs to be to consistently compete for SEC titles.

Our 10 Most Rewatchable Tennessee Games

When I’m stressed, spent, or any other word you might use to describe what these days are taking from us, I find myself going back to happier childhood memories. I’ve been playing back through the Super Nintendo Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on my Switch for the past 10 days or so, and I’m almost sad that I’m coming close to the end. It was surreal to turn on ESPN Sunday night and find WrestleMania 30; we taught our son the Yes! movement a little too close to bedtime, as it turned out.

And if you’re reading this site, chances are you’ve tried to fill some of these hours with Tennessee highlights. The problem with highlights, however, is they only burn seconds, and you can blow through what feels like everything you know in a short amount of time.

In watching those old WrestleMania matches, and in talking to some of my friends on what they’ve been going back and watching, I started thinking of some of our old “best of” lists. We’ve spilled plenty of word count on bests and favorites and all that over the years. But what’s most helpful right now is rewatchability: what games am I most likely to sit down and watch all of, with the least temptation to fast forward?

As always with me, you get 1989-present, both as a nice starting point in Tennessee’s history and about as far back as my own memories go. Shout out to those who uploaded these onto YouTube long ago, so that they’re here like old friends today. Click each game to go to the broadcast.

With rewatchability, you value the whole thing. I often use 1998 Florida as the example: one of the most memorable and important wins in Tennessee football history…but not an overly great football game play-for-play. Today’s list focuses on excitement, and is thus a little heavy on offense. I tried to think of these games in terms of the most plays of consequences, fewest three-and-outs, etc. We’ll come back in a few days with a list of Tennessee’s most satisfying beatdowns, if you’re in the mood for something a little less dramatic. And I also leaned into some games that haven’t been in as heavy a rotation; I adore the 1997 win over Auburn in the SEC Championship Game, but they replay that all the time. I think the top four games on this list are unassailable; if I watched them today I’d still be interested in watching them again tomorrow. The rest are the games I think are most rewatchable for March of 2020, including for younger fans, representing some of the greatest hits of the last two decades.

Play-for-play, for the most exciting ways to spend 60+ minutes of gametime and 2-3 hours watching Tennessee football, these are my picks:

10. 2006: Tennessee 31 Air Force 30

This game carries the weight of Inky Johnson’s injury, someone whose positivity we could all use more of right about now. A week after blowing past #9 California, Tennessee needed all of David Cutcliffe’s high-powered offense against the Falcons and the triple-option. Total punts in this game: two. Total punts by Tennessee in this game: zero.

9. 2001: Tennessee 38 Kentucky 35

Two weeks before the December showdown at Florida, the #6 Vols fell behind 21-0 against Jared Lorenzen in Lexington. I was at this game, and it was terrifying; much less so when you know the outcome.

8. 2016: Tennessee 38 Florida 28

Four years later, this one still carries a tinge of grief for what this team didn’t ultimately become, which is why I have it lower than the next one on our list among games from the last decade. Still, there are so many meaningful plays in this game, even having memorized them all in the last few years.

7. 2014: Tennessee 45 South Carolina 42 (OT)

Hello, Josh Dobbs. The most rewatchable game of the 2010’s. All the things we wanted to believe about Dobbs that night really came true. An incredible football game even before the complete insanity of the last five minutes, and the performance of Tennessee’s pass rush in overtime. And the last word against Steve Spurrier.

6. 2006: Tennessee 51 Georgia 33

Another feather in the 2006 cap. If you’re too young, you might wonder what an 18-point win is doing in this group instead of being on the beat-down list. Just watch. Antonio Wardlow gets the cover of Sports Illustrated, and this might be the most complete fourth quarter in the history of Tennessee football.

5. 2007: Tennessee 52 Kentucky 50 (4OT)

All the other multi-overtime games at Tennessee really lack a compelling story for most of regulation. Not this one. And don’t forget, this was a really good Kentucky team: beat #1 LSU, ranked in the Top 10 two different times that year. No Tennessee win in the last 13 years has mattered more than this one.

4. 1991: Tennessee 35 Notre Dame 34

The Miracle at South Bend, and the best road unis the Vols have ever worn. If you’ve never watched this game from start to finish – including the entire first half just to appreciate how bad it was in digging a 31-7 hole – now’s the time.

3. 2004: Tennessee 30 Florida 28

The best play-for-play game I’ve ever seen at Neyland Stadium. Ainge and Schaeffer, Chris Leak, a 12-play 80-yard UT touchdown drive featuring all runs, a bananas touchdown pass from Ainge to Bret Smith, and the ballad of James Wilhoit. All in front of what will probably always be the largest crowd in Neyland Stadium history.

2. 2001: Tennessee 34 Florida 32

The best play-for-play game I’ve ever seen period. The stakes, the rivalry, everything on the line and winning anyway. It’s hard to believe this game turns 20 years old next fall.

1. 1998: Tennessee 28 Arkansas 24

I think those two Florida games are slightly better play-for-play. But they don’t carry the feel-goods of 1998, which will always push this one over the top.

On Getting the Last Word

We often talk of the similarities in Tennessee’s historical football and basketball DNA when it comes to our biggest rivals: no one has beaten Alabama football or Kentucky basketball more than the Vols. In nearly 30 years of divisional play, the Vols fell into a similar pattern with Florida in football: always within reach, grasped just enough to make you believe it can happen each time. (Apparently that’s true at Rupp Arena now too.)

I think I’ve always leaned into this idea because it somewhat mirrors the dynamic between Alcoa and Maryville in football. And those of us who double as Braves fans know much of the “good enough to believe you can win every year” DNA. You don’t win every year, of course. Being close means being invested, and being invested means losing hurts. But the payoffs, when they come, are incredible. And they happen just enough to make you believe it can happen again this time.

But there’s one other, much more enjoyable trait of being a Tennessee Vol: we tend to get the last word against our greatest villains.

Bear Bryant won 11 in a row against Tennessee from 1971-1981. The Vols broke that streak in Knoxville in 1982 with a 35-28 victory, in what became Bryant’s final season.

Steve Spurrier caused more pain for Tennessee football than any individual in my lifetime. But the Vols sent him out of The Swamp with a loss, 34-32 in December 2001, the greatest individual football game one of my teams has ever played in. Thirteen years later, Josh Dobbs rallied the Vols from down 14 with less than five minutes to play to win 45-42 in overtime, the last time Tennessee faced him at South Carolina.

Peyton Manning is our favorite hero, and his story was always best defined by its villains, including Spurrier. But the longest of those relationships belong to Tom Brady. And, in 2015, Manning got the last word in the AFC Championship Game.

So my first thought yesterday, even before trying to picture Brady in one of those creamsicle uniforms? If your Venn diagram, like mine, includes the Titans as well?

I’m sure Alabama and Florida and New England fans enjoyed all those wins; I know how little I enjoyed the losses.

But getting the last word? I enjoy that very much.

Can the Vols Depend on Instate Prospects in 2021?

After signing 10 Tennesseans as part of the class of 2020 – after only signing 5 (including Melvin McBride, who immediately took a medical redshirt in the class of 2019 – it is an open question how big a part of Tennessee’s 2021 class instate prospects will be. A common narrative at this point in the cycle is that the overall instate talent, both in terms of high end prospects as well as top to bottom, is down as compared to last cycle. And while that could end up being true, a deeper look reveals that the state of Tennessee could still play a large role in the Vols’ class of 2021 than some currently think, even if states like GA, AL, and NC are rightfully getting a lot of attention from the Tennessee staff and recruiting fans.

Below, by each of the Three Grand Divisions, shows prospects with Tennessee offers. Those with asterisks are not only elite prospects but also are players who Tennessee would take today if they called the coaches and wanted to commit. So while many of those might not be committable *right now*, quite a few are. Also, many of those that don’t have currently committable offers from the Vols do have them from multiple SEC schools. Further, as a reminder, two of the three Whitehaven Trio from the class of 2020 as well as RB signee Jabari Small were not true Vol targets until October of 2019, so recent history says that at least a couple the below sans asterisk might end up being bigtime targets depending on how their respective senior seasons go and what else happens with other prospects on Tennessee’s board:

2021 West TN Prospects with Vol Offers

OL Dietrick Pennington*
TE Hudson Wolfe*
CB Gregory Rubin*
OL DJ Harden (CBHS)

2021 Midstate TN Prospects with Vol Offers

LB Junior Colson*
WR Adonai Mitchell*
OL William Griffin*
DL Javon Nelson*
TE Jake Bringingstool* (Clemson commit)
DB Andre Turrentine* (OSU commit)
WR Walker Merrill
DB Kyndrich Breedlove
DL Quanterius Lusk
DL Alex Okelo
ATH Damon Owens
WR Quenton Barnes
CB Adrian Huey

2021 East TN Prospects with Vol Offers

RB/CB Elijah Howard* (Vol commit)
ATH Tray Curry
ATH Javin Burke
ATH Jaden Keller
OL Jmarion Gooch

That’s ten instate players the Vols would take right now (counting one who’s likely off the table in Briningstool and recent OSU commitment Turrentine, who may still be in play down the line). And that’s not counting guys like Okelo, who got a relatively recent offer (mid-January) or Barnes and Huey, who visited campus as recently as the weekend before last. One could also easily make the case that guys like Merrill, Curry, Breedlove and a few others should and maybe would be immediate takes as well. For example, perhaps Breedlove, with Turrentine’s commitment to OSU, sees the heat from Tennessee turned up a notch. He does already have offers from some really good programs in Michigan State and Baylor, after all. In terms of where Tennessee stands with the “takes,” the Vols seem to be in very good position for Mitchell, Colson and Griffin in particular, and deep in the mix for the rest – including probably Turrentine – with the exception of Briningstool.

With a better recruiting staff than the year before; now two-plus years for Pruitt, OL Coach Will Friend, and OLB Coach Brian Niedermeyer (the only two remaining holdovers from the original staff) to have built relationships instate; as well as two all time VFL greats in Tee Martin and Jay Graham on staff, Tennessee is in prime position to land a larger percentage of its true instate targets. If Tennessee could land a large majority of the elite players it is currently heavily targeting it would mean beating out the likes of Clemson, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Ohio State and other elite programs. Having lost one each to Clemson and OSU, the Vols really need to make a move, but there is still plenty of time to do so. Even more importantly it would provide a strong foundation of bigtime talent for the Vols to build their class around. So don’t write off the state of Tennessee for the 2021 cycle just yet. As usual, instate prospects are likely to play a major role in the Vols class.

Workin’ for the Weekend

This first weekend of March will be the initial opportunity for programs across the country to host prospects on campus. Following up on last week’s news and notes at the end of February, below are more flushed out expected visitor lists for Tennessee and its chief rivals and where Vol fans can expect to see Tennessee targets:

Tennessee

WR Jordan Moseley (Tennessee commitment)
DL Darrell Jackson
DL Joshua Farmer (FSU commitment)
DL Payton Page
DL Isaac Washington (former Tennessee commitment)
CB De’Jahn Warren
CB Andre Turrentine
DL Jahvaree Ritzie
DL Taleeq Robbins
OL Dylan Fairchild
WR Tray Curry
WR Simeon Price
RB Jaylen Wright
ATH Kamen Marley
ATH Chauncey Magwood
CB Edwin White
CB Kamarro Edmonds

The Vols list will likely get bigger, likely with more instate players and of course 2022 prospects from across the country. One to keep an eye out for are LB Greg Penn, who is at South Carolina on Thursday.

Clemson

RB TreVeyon Henderson
CB Ryan Barnes
CB De’Shawn Rucker

FSU

DL Darrell Jackson (Tennessee commitment)
DL Joshua Farmer
RB Jaylin White (just named Tennessee his leader)
WR Christian Lewis
WR Malachi Bennett
TE Mile Campbell
DL Zyun Reeves

Florida

RB Cody Brown
OL Jared Wilson
OLB Jeremiah Williams
OLB Keanu Koht (just released a top nine of UT, UGA, LSU, Bama, Oregon, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Miami)
OLB Khristian Zachary
OLB Victoine Brown
LB Smael Mondon
DL Tim Keenan
DL Anquin Barnes
CB Kamar Wilcoxson (UF commit)

Alabama

LB Raneiria Dillworth
WR Donte Thornton
OLB Zachary Carter

Another visit of note is that 5-star QB Caleb Williams is on a weekend-long UV to Oklahoma. If he pops for the Sooners look for Clemson to make a move for Christian Veilleux, as well as maybe PSU. Maryland will have top Vol target DE Demeioun Robinson on campus, while and CB Nyland Green, who was in Knoxville for a late January Junior Day and is expected in Columbia on Friday will then head to Oregon on an unofficial visit. Lastly, 4-star DB Jantzen Dunn, who recently named Tennessee as his leader along with Oklahoma, visited Ohio State this week and picked up an offer from the Buckeyes.

After this weekend the Vols will be real players – as in having hosted at least one campus visit and/or with a future visit planned AND still remaining reasonably in the mix – for upwards of 40 elite prospects in the 2021 class. That’s damn impressive.

Recruiting News & Notes as February Dead Period Ends

Add DL Monkell Goodwine to the list of elite players that new TE Coach Joe Osovet has Tennessee in on. He recently named the Vols in his top 6 along with Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Texas A&M, and local Maryland. The Vols seem to have some ground to make up with Alabama in particular, so a spring visit will be a must. But to say Osovet is off to a hot start is an understatement

At the same time, add WR JJ Jones to the longer list of elite players that Tennessee is very much in the mix for. Jones added an offer from UGA this week to go with Tennessee, South Carolina, and UNC. The Vols are going to be very selective with WRs in this class after landing a borderline elite WR haul in the 2020 class, and already have 4-star Jordan Moseley in the fold. That said, with Donte Thornton, instate star Adonai Mitchell, and a handful of others firmly on the radar, the Vols have put themselves in a good spot at the position for 2021.

4-star DB Jantzen Dunn (#201 overall per 247 Sports) from Bowling Green, KY recently named Tennessee as his leader along with Oklahoma. He plans on being back to Knoxville this spring after visiting for a Junior Day in January, and has also set up an OV to Norman in April for their spring game

Interesting nugget: Rusty Mansell from 247 Sports reported that Georgia is not currently heavily recruiting Atlanta-area 4-star OLB Zach Carter (181 overall by 247) despite having offered him. After visiting Tennessee the first weekend in February he now has the Vols firmly in his top list of schools, with upcoming visits set to Alabama and LSU in March. If UGA is not a factor that will really open things up for someone to fill that void (like with BJ Ojulari in 2020), so there is opportunity for the Vols to become a real factor. New OLB Coach Shelton Felton will hope to use his GA high school ties to quickly build a relationship, and if he can expect Tennessee to get in the mix

With the Vols set to host the very strong (and likely growing) group of visitors for their big spring showcase Junior Day on March 7th, Tennessee is also going to have at least two bigtime players on campus this Sunday as the dead period ends. 4-star and 247 Sports’ #67 overall player Jeremiah Williams will be visiting this weekend. The stud passrusher was just on campus for a late January Junior Day after visiting for last season’s UGA game, so he clearly has a ton of interest. That said, like fellow Yellowhammer State passrusher Dylan Brooks, both Alabama and Auburn are hot on Williams’ trail as well making him a difficult pull. Getting him to visit again so soon is obviously a good sign, however, so look for the Vols to really try and stamp themselves as he gets to spend a lot of solo time with Coach Pruitt and the staff. Also expected in this weekend is bigtime instate 4-star LB Junior Colson, who is back on campus after being in for a late January Junior Day and two games during this past season. Colson is a top target, one of the best players in the state, and frankly a must-get as the Vols look to continue lock down the best players in Tennessee

As of this writing, the following players are expected in Knoxville for the aforementioned March 7^th Junior Day:

WR Jordan Moseley (Tennessee commitment)

DL Darrell Jackson (Tennessee commitment – possibly accompanied by teammate and FSU commitment DL Joshua Farmer)

DL Payton Page

CB De’Jahn Warren

CB Andre Turrentine

DL Jahvaree Ritzie

DL Taleeq Robbins

WR Tray Curry

WR Simeon Price

RB Jaylen Wright

ATH Kamen Marley

Obviously getting the two commitments back on campus is big for relationship building, especially for Jackson who committed to Tennessee when Tracy Rocker was the DL Coach. Even bigger will be the presence of the 5-star Page and stud DBs Turrentine and Warren, who has absolutely blown up in recent weeks after receiving his first offer from Tennessee back in November. As noted above, this list is likely to expand, and in particular will likely contain some instate prospects as well as more players from North Carolina.

It’s likely that Alabama, Georgia, Clemson and others will also be aiming for the March 7^th weekend as a big one as well and the Vols will be fighting those programs and others to get players to Knoxville. As an example, Florida and Florida State will be hosting quite a few Tennessee targets on their respective campuses:

RB Cody Brown

OLB Jeremiah Williams

OLB Kristian Zachary

DL Victoine Brown

OLB Smael Mondon

DL Justus Boone

DL Leonard Taylor

DL Tim Keenan

DB Kamar Wilcoxson

DL Anquin Barnes (who Volquest reported today is (also?) expected in Knoxville that weekend)

FSU

RB Jaylin White

DL Joshua Farmer (possibly accompanied by teammate and Tennessee commitment DL Darrell Jackson)

DL Zyun Reeves

CB Deshawn Rucker

WR Chauncey Magwood

With the Early Signing Period in December and the ability for players to take official visits as early as April, the month of March has become a very big deal. Even moreso when it comes to recruiting QBs, many of whom are already locked up leaving a ton of bigtime programs fighting over a limited number of bigtime targets. Therefore, visits during the month will be incredibly important to watch as bellweathers for the recruitments of the types of elite prospects for whom Tennessee is planning to fight.

Osovet Off to a Hot Start on the Trail

With the obvious caveat that even the early Signing Day for the 2021 class is ten months out, the early recruiting returns on new TE Coach Joe Osovet are incredibly encouraging. While perhaps that should not be surprising given that his name was brought up by multiple recruits in the 2020 cycle despite being in an off-field role and therefore not able to recruit off campus, along with the fact that he’s a former JUCO head coach with extensive ties in the Northeast, his promising start on the trail is a great sign. Because if Osovet is indeed a bigtime recruiter, the offseason staff changes made by Coach Jeremy Pruitt – including upgrading from David Johnson to Jay Graham at RB Coach (not to shortchange Johnson, but it is what it is); and Jimmy Brumbaugh for Tracy Rocker (who Tennessee would have been better off had he simply did what he prefers and not recruit at all) will look that much better.

To wit, Osovet is the lead recruiter for the following players, mostly from MD and PA, (247 Sports rankings in parentheses) that Tennessee is in deep with:

DE Demeioun Robinson (20): A premier player in this class, Robinson has been to Knoxville multiple times and Osovet has developed a deep relationship with both Demeioun and his family. To wit: perhaps not coincidentally, Robinson’s two older brothers enrolled at Osovet’s former JUCO, ASA Brooklyn in the 2020 class and both came on his most recent visit along with their father

WR Donte Thornton (55): A former PSU commitment, Thornton came to Knoxville last summer for Tennessee’s “Rocky Top Cookout” recruiting event and then after a trip to Oregon backed off that Nittany Lions pledge. He was back on campus at the beginning of this month for a Junior Day and clearly likes both Osovet as well as WR Coach Tee Martin. With WR spots at a premium in this class and one already locked up by Jordan Moseley – a very, very good player himself – Thornton is likely right at the top of the Vols board

CB Ryan Barnes (469): That ranking is more likely to simply have the “4” removed than to be anywhere near where it currently is in the not too distant future. The Vols offered Barnes first, back in November 2019, and he now has offers from the likes of Clemson, LSU, Georgia and Florida. Barnes will be at Clemson on March 7 and then back in Knoxville the following weekend, giving the Vols a chance to really solidify themselves in what will almost certainly end up a bigtime battle

CB Dejahn Warren (JUCO): Based on offers alone Warren is likely the top JUCO in the country, and Tennessee gave him his first one in November. Since then, Alabama, Penn State Oklahoma and others have joined the Vols but Osovet’s relationship has the Vols very much in the mix. Warren plans on being in Knoxville for Tennessee’s first big March Junior Day the weekend of the 7^th and that will be a big visit now that Warren has exploded onto the scene. As an early enrollee who clearly is very talented, Warren is the kind of instant impact JUCO that the Vols will be looking for in this class

WR Christian Velleuix (418): At or near the top of Tennessee’s recently expanded QB board, Velleuix is another player that Osovet has been working for some time. Where he ultimately sits on Tennessee’s board is TBD, but the same could be said for programs like PSU and Clemson (both of whom are waiting on another QB, and therefore, each other). Osovet has positioned the Vols to where they have the option of pushing or not, a decision which ultimately will be made by Pruitt, Jim Chaney, and QB Coach Chris Weinke

LB Greg Penn (283): A Top 100 player overall by Rivals, Penn has OSU, LSU, Texas A&M and South Carolina among his favorites. Citing his relationship with Osovet, he plans on visiting Knoxville in March as the Vols try to make a move. How it plays out from there is TBD, but Penn is yet another “elite” player Osovet for whom has gotten Tennessee in the mix

DL Taleeq Robbins (548): Another player whose early ranking belies his offer list, Robbins will be in Knoxville for the March 7^th Junior Day as the Vols try to join programs like Michigan and Texas A&M for the talented DL from Philly. He’ll be joined by two very talented 2022 Philadelphia natives, including teammate and Top 30 prospect DE Enai White as well as OLB Ken Talley who holds offer from PSU, UF and others

DT Terrion Sugick (600): The former UVA commitment also has offers from Florida and now Tennessee after an early February visit to Knoxville and is another Maryland product who Osovet has the Vols firmly in play for

DT Tyas Martin (684): Martin, an Arkansas native, was on campus in early February and has Tennessee at the very top of his list. The big man showed out at the The All-American Bowl National Junior Combine in January and now has Oklahoma looking to join the Vols, UVA and Virginia Tech as early contenders. He’s yet another Osovet recruit

As Tennessee looks to take its program to another level in terms of talent, it is a must that it continue to recruit against and beat the elite programs in the country for elite talent. In order to do that, Pruitt has to have a staff with as many top-end recruiters as possible. With former National Recruiters of the Year Tee Martin and Brian Niedermeyer already on staff already, Osovet emerging as a bigtime recruiter would really position Tennessee’s staff as one of the best in the country and give the Vols a real shot at not just its third straight Top 10 national class but potentially a Top 5 finish. His ability to finish will be tested for sure, but for now Vol fans can feel good that he’s off to a very strong start.